Bobcats Fall in Game One to Pioneers

Friday, March 13

Hamden, Conn.

3:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

4-10, 0-1

Sacred Heart

3-11, 2-2

Sacred Heart

Quinnipiac

Alex Irizarry versus Iona (March 7, 2025)

Photo by: Rob Rasmussen / P8Photos.com

3/13/2026 7:15:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Hamden, Conn. – The Friday evening contest between the Quinnipiac Bobcats and Sacred Heart Pioneers came to an end on Saturday afternoon, with the Pioneers walking away with a 9-8 win.

SCORE
Sacred Heart 9, Quinnipiac 8

RECORDS
Quinnipiac (4-10, 0-1 MAAC) | Sacred Heart (3-11, 2-2 MAAC)
Winning Pitcher – Graham Willerer (1-1)
Losing Pitcher – Mike Poncini (0-1)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Sacred Heart got the scoring started in the opening inning, scoring three runs in the top half of the first inning.

The Pioneers made it a 5-0 game in the second inning due to a two-run home run from Ronan Donahue.

After the Pioneers made it an 8-0 game in the sixth inning, the Bobcats got on the board with two runs in their half of the sixth. Caden Williamson got the Bobcats on the board with an RBI single. Peyton Vancas would come in with Quinnipiac's second run of the inning as James Marino got caught in a rundown between first and second.

Quinnipiac got five runs in the seventh inning, making it a one-run game. Kyle Garbowski was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to get the scoring started in the inning. As the next batter, Jack Balcer singled to the shortstop to bring home another run in the inning. After Caden Williamson got hit by a pitch to make it a three-run game, James Marino singled in two more runs to bring the Bobcats within one.

In the eighth inning, Cole Constable got on by a walk before stealing second and making it down to third on the throw. Alex Irizarry did his job, hitting a sacrifice fly to left to bring home Constable and tying the game up at eight.

The coaches and umpires met after the inning and decided to suspend the game due to darkness, with play to resume on Saturday at 1 PM.

As the game was picked back up at the top of the ninth inning, Dave Yorke started the inning with a solo home run for the Pioneers, giving them a one-run lead.

The Bobcats wouldn't get a run across in the bottom half of the inning as Sacred Heart put an end to game one, 9-8.

NEWS AND NOTES

Seven different Bobcats recorded hits in the series opener against Sacred Heart.
James Marino led the offense with three of those hits, while Peyton Vancas picked up two hits.
Caden Williamson and James Marino each drove in two RBIs in the loss.
Eight of nine starters reached base safely in the series opener.
Five different pitchers toed the rubber for the Bobcats, while Mike Poncini was charged with the loss.