QU Baseball Travels to Appalachian State for Pair of Doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday

Saturday, February 27

Hickory, NC

12 PM

Quinnipiac University

Appalachian State

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QU Baseball Travels to Appalachian State for Pair of Doubleheaders Saturday and Sunday

2/25/2016 1:20:00 PM | Baseball

By: QU Sports Information

Quinnipiac University Bobcats (0-0, 0-0 MAAC) at
Appalachian State University Mountaineers (0-4, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 27
Time: 12:00 PM (DH)
Location: L.P. Frans Stadium - Hickory, N.C.
All-Time Series vs. Appalachian State: 0-1
Last Meeting: L, 11-4 (March 9, 2008 - Davidson, N.C.)
Game 1 (7 Innings): Thomas Jankins (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Bobby Hampton (0-1, 37.41 ERA)
Game 2 (9 Innings): Robbie Hitt (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Seth Hardin (0-1, 1.80 ERA)

Quinnipiac University Bobcats (0-0, 0-0 MAAC) at
Appalachian State University Mountaineers (0-4, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Date: Sunday, Feb. 28
Time: 11:00 AM (DH)
Location: Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium - Boone, N.C.
All-Time Series vs. Appalachian State: 0-1
Last Meeting: L, 11-4 (March 9, 2008 - Davidson, N.C.)
Game 1 (9 Innings): Taylor Luciani (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Colin Schmid (0-1, 16.20 ERA)
Game 2 (9 Innings): Justin Thomas (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. TBA

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Heading South
The Quinnipiac baseball team is heading south to open up the 2016 season with a pair of doubleheaders against the Appalachian State Mountaineers. Originally slated for four games spread over three days, weather forced the Bobcats and Mountaineers to move Saturday's doubleheader to L.P. Frans Stadium in Hickory, North Carolina, the home of the Hickory Crawdads, beginning at 12 PM followed by a doubleheader on Appalachian State's home field, Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium, beginning at 11 AM.

Scouting the Mountaineers
Appalachian State comes into this weekend's series 0-4 on the young season, having played against three teams ranked in the Top 25 to open up the season. Appalachian State opened up the season with a 17-2 loss against the nationally-ranked No. 23 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers before getting blanked by nationally-ranked the No. 4 Virginia Cavaliers, 8-0. After a 12-3 loss against Old Dominion, the Mountaineers traveled to Columbia, South Carolina to face the nationally-ranked No. 24 South Carolina Gamecocks, where they fell, 5-0. Appalachian State is led offensively by Beau Myers, who was one of two players to start all four games to open the season, batting .357 (5 for 14) with a double and two runs scored. Colin Schmid also started all four games, batting .313 (5 for 16) with a double and three RBIs. Tanner Mann-Fix played in all four games, starting two, and went 5 for 9 with a double, a run and two walks.

All-Time Against Appalachian State
The Bobcats and Mountaineers have faced each other just one other time, with the Mountaineers coming away with the 11-4 victory on March 9, 2008. Current head coach John Delaney was a senior for the Bobcats in that only other meeting between the two teams, compiling a .337 batting average that season with nine home runs and 40 RBIs, leading the team in every major offensive category.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T
After a tremendous 2015 season, the Bobcats have been picked to finish second in the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll and took three first place votes with 109 points. 2016 is the highest the Bobcats have been picked to finish in a preseason poll since they were picked to finish second in the NEC in 2008. Since joining the MAAC, the Bobcats have been picking to finish 11^th in 2014 and fifth in 2015. Thomas Jankins, Mike Palladino, Matthew Batten and Lou Iannotti were all selected to the Preseason All-MAAC Team.

Top Prospects
Baseball America came out several weeks ago and listed two Bobcats among their top four prospects in the league. Transfer Alex Vargas, who was selected in the 38^th Round of the 2015 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros, was tabbed as the No. 2 prospect in the MAAC this season while Jankins was selected as the No. 4 prospect.

Oh Captains, My Captains
Head coach John Delaney named four different players as the captains for the upcoming 2016 season. Seniors Mike Palladino and Matthew Lorenzetti and juniors Matthew Batten and Thomas Jankins were all picked to lead the Bobcats this season.

Thomas the Jank Engine
Thomas Jankins is coming off his best season yet as a member of the Bobcats where he was named to the All-MAAC First Team. He led the Bobcats with a 6-5 record, leading the team with a 3.20 ERA, two complete games, 84 1/3 innings pitched, and 53 strikeouts. In the MAAC, he was sixth in ERA, fourth in innings pitched, tied for fourth in wins and runners picked off (3) and tied for seventh in runs allowed (36) and earned runs allowed (30). Jankins was named the Preseason Pitcher of the Year in the MAAC by Baseball America and College Sports Madness

Bowling for Battens
Matthew Batten is also coming off his best season as a Bobcat, which translated to being named the Preseason Player of the Year in the MAAC by Baseball America here in 2016. Batten stole 22 bases last season, the second most in a single season in Quinnipiac's Division history. He rose his batting average from .260 in 2014 to .303 in 2015 with a team-high 67 hits. Batten also scored 37 runs, drove in 34 RBIs and walked 16 times. This past summer, Batten played for the Thunder Bay Border Cats of the Northwoods League where he was named the Top Defensive Shortstop with a .978 field percentage. Batten played in 69 of the 71 games, recording the third most at bats (269) and the fourth most triples (6). He tallied 62 hits with 31 runs scored and stole 10 bases.

Iannotti
Lou Iannotti had an excellent 2015 and summer seasons, leading to being named to the Preseason All-MAAC team at catcher for the 2016 season. Last season, Iannotti was named to the NEIBA All-Star Game after batting .284 with a .353 on base percentage and .376 slugging percentage. He tallied 56 hits with 11 doubles, one home run, 36 RBIs, 26 runs scored and 18 walks. He was named the NECBL Player of the Week in the final week of the regular season this summer before leading the Mystic Schooners into the championship game for the first time in the team's history.

The Good Dino-Saur
Mike Palladino broke out in 2015, setting the Division I program record for stolen bases in a season with 26. He was second on the team with a .313 batting average, hit a team-high 16 doubles, tallied 65 hits, scored 42 runs and was second on the team with a .402 on base percentage. This offseason, Palladino was named the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year by College Sports Madness.

Fantastic Freshman
Robert Hitt came on as a freshman last season and shined for the Bobcats, both as a starting pitcher and as a reliever. He tied Jankins for the most wins on the team with six, going 6-4 with two saves and a 4.10 ERA in 21 appearances and five starts. Hitt pitched 59 1/3 innings, allowing just 50 hits, 32 runs (27 earned), 17 walks and 49 strikeouts. Even more impressive, opponents batted just .225 against Hitt in 2015. He used his impressive season to play this summer with the Torrington Titans of the Future's Collegiate Baseball League, where he was named to the FCBL All-Star Team.

Summer Catch
Rob Pescitelli also shined this summer in the NECBL with the Valley Blue Sox, where he was named to the NECBL All-Star Team. Pescitelli was solid after coming back from an injury last season, playing in 17 games and batting .314 with 16 hits, one home run, 10 RBIs, nine runs scored and eight walks. Over the summer, Pescitelli led the Blue Sox with a .291 batting average, recording 25 hits in 27 games with 12 runs scored and 12 RBIs.

Can't Hit Me
Gregory Egan was the Bobcats top closer last season as he led the team with five saves, just two shy of tying former Bobcat Gary Binkiewicz's single season program record of seven saves from the 2014 season. Egan 19 appearances, tossing 28 1/3 and recording 19 strikeouts while he posted the lowest opponent batting average at .208.

Out of the Pen
Matthew Lorenzetti had a strong third season for the Bobcats as he made a career-high 27 appearances as one of the Bobcats go-to relievers. Lorenzetti with 2-0 with a pair of saves, pitching 35 2/3 innings which were the most by a pitcher to not make a start. Lorenzetti struck out 31 batters, the fourth most on the team while opponents batted just .233 against the righty.

The Big Show
Ben Gibson came on strong in his freshman season for the Bobcats as the everyday third baseman, batting .262 but finished second on the team with five home runs and drove in 21 RBIs. Gibson also smacked eight doubles with 16 runs scored and walked 12 times. His .451 slugging percentage was second on the team to Guglietti.

Burnin' Up
After sitting out a season due to transfer rules, Joe Burns will get his chances to leave his mark on the Quinnipiac baseball program. Burns attended St. John's for his first two seasons but did not get much playing time as a freshman or sophomore. Burns will look to make an immediate impact all over the field for the Bobcats.

Rocky Top Tennessee
Ryan Nelson will jump back into the lineup for the Bobcats at second base after missing last season due to an injury. Nelson will replace Donaghue at second base, and played well in the City Series in October where he went 1 for 3 with a triple, run scored and walk in their win against the University of New Haven.

Newcomers
John Delaney and his coaching staff brought in a strong group of recruits for the 2016 season with five freshman, a junior transfer and one walk on. Alex Vargas, one of the Bobcats top incomers, transferred from Monroe College in New York where he was one of the star pitchers, where he went 6-2 with a 3.90 ERA in 10 starts, striking out 72 batters in 60 innings. Brian Moskey, Andrew Workman, Kyle Horton, Christian Nicolosi, and Aron Fried are new to Hamden this season as they begin their freshman seasons while Evan Lobato walked on to the team this season.

Impressive Turnaround
With 29 wins last season, the Bobcats tied their program record for wins in a season, tying the 2007 squad that went 29-18-1. Head coach John Delaney led the Bobcats to an 11-win turnaround in his first season at the helm of the program, the largest in

Replacing a Legend
The Bobcats will be replacing Vincent Guglietti this season, who wrapped his career with a program record 49 doubles while his 228 hits are the fourth most in program history. His 132 RBIs rank with in program history and second in the Division I era while his 116 runs are 15^th in program history and 11^th in the Division I era.