QU Baseball Sweeps Sunday Doubleheader at Appalachian State, 7-2 and 3-2

Sunday, February 28

Boone, NC

11 AM

Quinnipiac University

2-1

Appalachian State

1-6

Quinnipiac

Appalachian State

QU Baseball Sweeps Sunday Doubleheader at Appalachian State, 7-2 and 3-2

2/28/2016 7:58:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: QU Sports Information

Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

BOONE, North Carolina – The Quinnipiac baseball team swept its doubleheader on Sunday, Feb. 28, against the Appalachian State Mountaineers with 7-2 and 3-2 victories to take three of four games in the opening weekend of the 2016 baseball season.

Quinnipiac improved its record to 3-1 on the season, the first time since the 2013 season and just the third time in the program's Division I history in which they started the season with a three-win weekend.

Ben Gibson (Sagamore Beach, Massachusetts) led the team with five hits and three doubles in both games while Matthew Batten (Shelton, Connecticut) tallied four hits and drove in four RBI combined between the two games. Freshman Brian Moskey (Higganum, Connecticut) came around to score three runs for the Bobcats as part of the second doubleheader in his collegiate career.

Justin Thomas (Enfield, Connecticut) picked up his first win of the season with an effective performance on the mound in game one. The Bobcats' lefty pitched seven innings, allowing just two runs (one earned run) on two hits with one walk and three strikeouts. Wyatt Hamilton (Falmouth, Massachusetts) pitched two innings and struck two batters in relief.

In the second game of the doubleheader, Taylor Luciani (Berlin, Connecticut) tossed six innings in his first victory of the season and fourth career start. Luciani scattered seven hits over six innings of work, allowing two earned runs while striking out three batters and issuing just one walk. Gregory Egan (Seldon, New York) and Matthew Osieja (Wyckoff, New Jersey) were effective as they combined for two innings of relief work, with Osieja striking out two batters in 1 1/3 innings. Alex Vargas (New York) came in to slam the door shut in the ninth inning to earn his first career save, striking out one batter.

Game One:

Batten was the offensive leader in game one as he went 3 for 5 with three RBI and two runs scored. Ryan Nelson (Knoxville, Tennessee) went 1 for 5 with two RBIs, Lou Iannotti (North Haven, Connecticut) went 2 for 5 with a run and a RBI and Rob Pescitelli (West Islip, New York) also picked up two hits in the win.

The Bobcats opened up the game with two more runs in the first inning, just as they had done in both games of Saturday's doubleheader. Iannotti ripped a one-out single to left field before moving up to second base on Batten's bunt single. After Pescitelli struck out, Joseph Burns (Shelton, Connecticut) worked a two-out walk to load the bases for Nelson. Nelson laced a single to center field, scoring Batten and Iannotti for the 2-0 lead.

Quinnipiac got three more runs in the top of the second inning to take a 5-0 lead. Moskey walked with one out in the inning and moved up to second base on Mike Palladino's (Rockville Centre, New York) opposite field single to right center. Iannotti then went the opposite way with a single through the left side which score Moskey and Palladino used his speed to get to third base. Pescitelli stepped up to the plate with runners on the corners when he was hit by the pitch to load up the bases. After Iannotti was forced out on a fielder's choice for the second out of the inning, Nelson struck out swinging but the wild pitch allowed Batten to come home and score and Nelson reached first safely.

Appalachian State got one run back in the bottom of the second on a wild pitched that scored Caleb McCann from third base.
Palladino provided a lot of excitement in the fourth and fifth innings with several spectacular defensive plays, making three straight diving catches to preserve the Bobcats 5-1 lead.

The Bobcats tacked on two more insurance runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 7-1 lead. Moskey singled up the middle and Palladino reached on an error before both runners advanced into scoring position on Iannotti's sacrifice bunt. Batten brought home both Moskey and Palladino with a two-RBI single up the middle.

Appalachian State could only must one run in the bottom of the sixth as the Quinnipiac pitching locked down late in the game. Tanner Mann-Fix tripled to left field to lead off the sixth inning and came home to score on Beau Myers' RBI ground out but the Bobcats' starting pitcher Thomas got the next two batters out to squash the rally.

Game Two:

Gibson was on fire in game two for the Bobcats as he went 4 for 4 at the plate against the Mountaineers as he drilled two doubles, scored a run and was hit by a pitch. Gibson was the only Bobcat with multiple hits in the game.

Moskey scored a run and drove in another while Batten and Iannotti recorded one RBI each and Nelson scored the game's other run.

The Bobcats fell behind early in the bottom of the first inning as the Mountaineers struck first for the first time in the series. Henry Davis walked with one out in the inning and immediately stole second base. After Colin Schmid struck out, Myers doubled down the left field line to score Davis before coming home to score himself on Tyler Stroup's RBI single.

Luciani settled down for the Bobcats and held the Mountaineers off the board for the rest of the game. Quinnipiac got two runs back in the top of the sixth to tie the game. Nelson led off the inning with a walk before moving up third on Gibson's ground-rule double to right field. The Bobcats attempted some small ball but Nelson got out at third base trying to score and Moskey reached first base. Palladino walked to load the bases with two outs in the inning. After a pitching change for the Mountaineers, Iannotti and Batten worked back-to-back walks to score runs to tie the game.

The Bobcats took the lead for good in the seventh inning as Nelson single to right field and once again, moved up to third on Gibson's RBI double to right field. Moskey perfectly executed a squeeze bunt, bringing home Nelson for the game-winning run.

Quinnipiac baseball returns to action next weekend with a four-game series against Virginia Tech at English Field beginning on Friday, March 4 at 5:30 PM.