QU Baseball Falls in Season Opener to James Madison, 7-2

Friday, February 27

Eagle Field @ Veterans Memorial Park - Harrisonburg, Va.

4 pm

Quinnipiac University

0-1

James Madison

3-2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Quinnipiac	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	3
James Madison	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	2	X	7	5	3

QU Baseball Falls in Season Opener to James Madison, 7-2

2/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball

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HARRISONBURG, Virginia – The Quinnipiac baseball team lost the opening game of the season Friday afternoon to the James Madison Dukes, 7-2, in the first game of a four-game series between the two teams this weekend.

Quinnipiac falls to (0-1, 0-0 MAAC) after taking the loss while James Madison (3-2, 0-0 CAA) gets back above .500 with the win.

Freshman pitcher Robert Hitt (Suffield, Connecticut) was solid on the hill as he started on opening day for the Bobcats in his first collegiate baseball game. The right-hander went six innings, allowed just one hit, walked one batter and struck out six to take the no-decision. Hitt struck out at least one batter in every inning except the first, and struck out two in the fourth inning.

Offensively, Scott Donaghue (Marlboro, New Jersey) went 1-4 with a double while Lou Iannotti (North Haven, Connecticut) went 1-4 and Brian Ruditys (Boothwyn, Pennsylvania) went 1-3. Ben Gibson (Sagamore Beach, Massachusetts) drove in his first RBI as a member of the Bobcats.

Vincent Guglietti (East Haven, Connecticut) and Julius Saporito (Manalapan, New Jersey) came around to score runs for the Bobcats. Saporito's was his first career run as a Bobcat.

Quinnipiac jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning on an RBI groundout from Gibson. Guglietti reach first on an error by James Madison starting pitcher Aaron Hoover. With one-out, Donaghue hit a ball into the right centerfield gap for a double that advanced Guglietti to third. Ben Gibson grounded out to short on a 2-1 count to score Guglietti from third.

The Dukes went off for five runs in the seventh inning when Hitt came out of the game for Joseph Scaglione (Wyckoff, New Jersey). Scaglione (0-1) took the loss as he gave up five runs (1 earned) on three hits and three walks with a strikeout in 2/3 of an inning on the mound. Matthew Lorenzetti (Marlboro, New Jersey) pitched the final 1.1 innings, allowing two earned runs on one hit, one walk and two strikeouts.

Quinnipiac put up a fight in the top of the ninth inning trailing 7-1. Matthew Oestreicher (North Haven, Connecticut) walked in his first plate appearance before Saporito came on to pinch run. After two pop ups, Iannotti singled to right field to advance Saporito to second. Both runners moved up to second and third on a balk during Donaghue's at bat. With runners on second and third, Donaghue stuck out swinging but the catcher missed the ball, allowing Saporito to score and Donaghue to take first to make it 7-2.

Chad Carroll went 2-5 with a run and three RBI for the Dukes while Ky Parrott went 1-4 with a triple and two RBI. Hoover (1-0) tossed eight innings for his first victory of the season with one unearned run, two hits, two walks and eight strikeouts.

The Bobcats and the Dukes will continue the series Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader scheduled for 12 P.M. at Eagle Park at Veterans Memorial Stadium.