Quinnipiac University
Vanderbilt
QU Baseball Set for Showdown with Defending National Champion, No. 1 Vanderbilt on Tuesday and Wednesday, Broadcast on ESPN3
3/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Quinnipiac University Bobcats (2-6, 0-0 MAAC) at.
No. 1 Vanderbilt University Commodores (11-4, 0-0 SEC)
Hawkins Field - Nashville, Tennessee
Game 1 - Tuesday at 7:30 P.M. EDT (6:30 P.M. CDT)
Live Video
Live Audio
Live Stats
Game 2 - Wednesday at 7:30 P.M. EDT (6:30 P.M. CDT)
Live Video
Live Audio
Live Stats
First Pitch
The Quinnipiac baseball team will begin its second series of their trip to Nashville when they face the defending national champion, nationally-ranked No. 1 Vanderbilt Commodores at Hawkins Field with the first pitch scheduled for 7:30 P.M. EDT (6:30 P.M. CDT) on both Tuesday and Wednesday, with the games broadcast on ESPN3 through the SEC Network+ channel.
Scouting the Commodores
Vanderbilt is off to an impressive start once again this season as they look to repeat as National Champions after winning it all in 2014. The Commodores have started the season 11-4, including 8-1 at Hawkins Field. This past weekend, the Commodores traveled out to Los Angeles, California where they battled with some of the nation's best baseball teams. The Commodores defeated nationally-ranked No. 4 UCLA 6-0 on Friday, March 6 before suffering two straight losses, a 6-5 loss to USC and a 4-2 loss to nationally-ranked No. 6 TCU, who also advanced to Omaha, Nebraska last year as one of the final eight teams. As a team, Vanderbilt as batting .323 this season, led by Rhett Wiseman who is batting .419 with a .500 on base percentage and .661 slugging percentage. He has two home runs, five doubles, two triples, 13 runs, 11 RBI and nine walks. Zander Wiel is batting .365 with two home runs, 12 runs, a team-high 18 RBI and team-high 13 walks. College World Series Most Outstanding Player Dansby Swanson continues his hot hitting as he is batting .354 with five doubles, a team-high 15 runs, 16 RBI and a team-high seven stolen bases. In total, 11 players are batting above .300 for the Commodores. Vanderbilt's pitching staff has been just as impressive, with a team ERA of 3.18 and 154 strikeouts in 138.2 innings pitched. Opponents are batting just .197 against the Commodores this season. Ace Carson Fulmer is 3-0 in four starts with a 0.81 ERA. He has allowed just 2 earned runs in 22.1 innings with 33 strikeouts. The closer, Philip Pfeifer, has made eight appearances already this season with two saves, recording a 1.31 ERA with 23 strikeouts in 20.2 innings pitched.
Last Time Out
The Bobcats kicked off their spring break trip with back-to-back doubleheaders, facing the Belmont Bruins and Bradley Braves with one game against each in each doubleheader. Quinnipiac went 0-4 on the weekend despite posting 16 runs in the four game series, including 11 in the second doubleheader. Matthew Batten (Shelton, Connecticut) led the Bobcats with a .438 batting average in the series, going 7-16 with a team-high four runs. Mike Palladino (Rockville Centre, New York) batted .333 with all four of his doubles on the season coming in the four-game series. Vincent Guglietti (East Haven, Connecticut) also hit his first home run of the season, a two-run shot coming on Sunday.
Primetime Showdown
Tuesday and Wednesday will mark Quinnipiac's first television games this weekend. The games will be broadcast on ESPN3 through the SEC Network+ online. For fans unable to stream the game, the game will also be broadcast on the radio through VUCommodores.com and live stats will also be available of the game.
Runners on Base = Success
Quinnipiac has not shied away from swinging with runners on base, in fact, they have thrived as they are batting .301 with runners on base and .250 with runners in scoring position. Batten headlines the batters in each category, as he is batting .457 with runners on base and .600 with runners in scoring position. Scott Donaghue has eight hits a .421 batting average with runners on base and Lou Iannotti leads the team with nine hits with runners on base, and a .409 batting average.
Extend the Inning
With two outs, the Bobcats have a batting average of .280 and have put together several two out rallies this season, including two times this weekend when they nearly came back to win games with two outs in the ninth inning. Guglietti and Iannotti both notched five hits with two outs in an inning, as Guglietti is 5-10 and Iannotti is 5-13. Batten has recorded four hits while Donaghue, Palladino and Brian Ruditys all have three hits with two outs.
Going, Going Gone
Guglietti went deep for the first team this season as he pulled a two-run home run to right field in game one of Sunday's doubleheader against Bradley. It was Guglietti's ninth career home run as a Bobcat after hitting a career high five last season. Guglietti also drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk later in the game, for his first three-RBI game this season.
Not Shy About Scoring
Guglietti has also come around to score nine runs this season, good for the most on the Bobcats squad. He has recorded eight hits and four walks, and has come around to score the majority of the time he's been on base.
Bowling for Batten
After an impressive weekend at the plate, Matt Batten raised his season batting average to .333 with a 7-16 weekend at the plate to lead the team in batting average. Tacking on three walks, Batten posted a .526 on base percentage. Batten came around to score four runs on the weekend, as he has now scored a run in five straight games for the Bobcats. Batten's best game came in game two of Saturday's doubleheader against Belmont, where he went 4-5 with a double.
Double Palladino
Palladino showed great prowess in the batter's box this weekend as the Bobcats' centerfielder smoked four doubles out of his six hits. Last season, Palladino had 11 doubles so he has put himself on a great path to set a career high in doubles this season. Palladino also went 2-5 in the final three games of four-game series to give himself a three-game, two-hit steak.
Keep on Swinging
Lou Iannotti has now recorded hits in seven of the eight games to start the season for the Bobcats after recording four hits this weekend, including a 2-4 game on Sunday in game two of the doubleheader. It was Iannotti's third two-hit game this season and also his second two-run game. Iannotti also ripped his second double of the season, for this third extra-base hit.
This Guy Knows How to Get on Base
Dale Long has gotten on base at an impressive clip this season for the Bobcats. Despite just one hit, he has drawn a team-high five walks and been hit by team-high three pitches to lead the Bobcats with a .474 on base percentage.
Got the First
Head Coach John Delaney earned his first career victory on as a head coach on Feb. 28 as the Bobcats defeated the James Madison Dukes 6-5. Delaney followed up his first victory with his second in game two of the doubleheader that same day. This season is Delaney's third with the program, as he spent the first as an assistant head coach and the second as an associate head coach.
