Quinnipiac University
LIU Brooklyn
Softball Drops Two NEC Games To Long Island, 1-0 and 11-6
4/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Softball
HAMDEN,
Conn. - The Quinnipiac University softball team lost a pair of
Northeast Conference games to Long Island on Saturday, April 16 at
the Quinnipiac Softball Field. The Bobcats fell, 1-0 and 11-6, in
the conference doubleheader. With the losses, Quinnipiac drops to
22-18 overall and to 6-4 in the NEC, while Long Island improves to
13-27 on the year and to 4-4 in conference play.
In game one, Long Island's Sterling Hoham scored the game-winning
run in the third inning. With two outs in the top of the third,
Hoham kept the Blackbirds alive on a single to first base. The
junior infielder advanced to third after Bianca Mejia singled and
Emily Kakuska walked. Hoham went on to score an unearned run when
Amanda McIntosh reached on a Quinnipiac error.
Quinnipiac's Heather Schwartzburg (Mission Viejo, Calif.) took the loss in the team's first outing of the day, as she pitched a complete game, only allowing three hits and one run. The junior pitcher struck out 11 batters across seven innings. Alex Alba (Sylmar, Calif.), Christy Cabrera (Reno, Nev.) and Lauren Salgado (Covina, Calif.) each contributed a hit for the Bobcats.
In the second contest, Long Island took an early 4-0 lead in the
top of the first inning. The Blackbirds' Mejia homered to left
center, driving in the first two runs of the game. Long Island's
MacIntosh and Megan Sheaf each went on to score an unearned run in
the inning.
The Bobcats' narrowed the gap by one run, 4-3, in the bottom of the
first. Cabrera After Alba led off with a single to left field, Jacqueline
Ristow (Seal Beach, Calif.) struck out, followed by Alba who
doubled to center field. Freshman Jordan
Paolucci (Lake Mary, Fla.) then hit a three-run homer to center
field to pick up her ninth home run of the year. In the bottom of
the fourth, Quinnipiac came back and tied the game at 4 runs a
piece on a Ristow single through the right side.
Despite poor weather conditions, the Blackbirds were able to add
seven runs, increasing their lead to 11-5 entering the bottom of
the seventh inning. With one out in the bottom of the seventh,
Quinnipiac junior Mina
Duffy (Piedmont, Calif.) recorded her second home run of the
season, closing down the gap, 11-6.
Duffy pitched the first four innings for Quinnipiac, struck out six
batters and allowed three hits and three earned runs. Schwartzburg,
now 14-9, entered the game in the fifth inning and took the loss as
she pitched two innings for the Bobcats. Schwartzburg allowed seven
hits and four runs in her second match-up of the day. Freshman Emily
O'Keefe also made an appearance for Quinnipiac as she allowed
two hits and two runs in the final inning.
In game two, Quinnipiac sophomore Salgado went 2-for-3 and scored a
team-high two runs against the Blackbirds. Duffy and Alba each went
2-for-4 and scored a run, while Duffy also picked up a RBI. In
addition, Paolucci went 1-for-3, scored a run and drove in a
team-high three RBI.
The Bobcats return to
action when they host Central Connecticut State in a NEC twinbill
on Sunday, April 17 at the Quinnipiac Softball Field in Hamden,
Conn. The first game is scheduled to begin at noon.
