Thomas Jankins Strikes Out Nine Batters, QU Baseball Drops MAAC Opener at Marist, 5-2

Thursday, March 24

Poughkeepsie, NY

3 PM

Quinnipiac University

6-12, 0-1

Marist

7-10, 1-0

Quinnipiac

Marist

Thomas Jankins Strikes Out Nine Batters, QU Baseball Drops MAAC Opener at Marist, 5-2

3/24/2016 7:08:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: QU Sports Information

POUGHKEEPSIE, New York – The Quinnipiac baseball team fell 5-2 in the MAAC Opener Thursday afternoon to the Marist Red Foxes at McCann Baseball Field.

Quinnipiac's loss was their fourth straight of the season as they drop to 6-12 (0-1 MAAC) while Marist improved to 7-10 (1-0 MAAC).

Ryan Nelson (Knoxville, Tennessee) went 2 for 4 with an RBI for the Bobcats as the only player on the team with more than one hit. Lou Iannotti (North Haven, Connecticut) went 1 for 2 with a walk and a RBI.

Brian Moskey (Higganum, Connecticut) doubled and scored a run for the Bobcats and Rob Pescitelli (West Islip, New York) also scored a run for the Bobcats.

Thomas Jankins (West Brookfield, Massachusetts) pitched all eight innings for a second straight game and struck out a season-high nine batters to give him 37 in his first five starts of the season. Jankins struck out the side in the fourth and fifth innings on his way to his nine strikeout performance. Despite the impressive numbers, Jankins (2-3) took his third loss of the season giving up five runs (four earned) on six hits with three walks.

Both starting pitchers were cruising through the first three innings before the Bobcats broke the scoreless tie in the top of the fourth inning. Pescitelli was hit by a pitch with one-out in the inning and moved up to second on an Iannotti walk. With two outs in the inning, Nelson singled up the middle to score Pescitelli from second base to take a 1-0 lead.

The Red Foxes tied up the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. Greg Kocinski drew a four-pitch walk to lead off the inning. After back-to-back strikeouts, Zachary Racusin doubled down the right field line to score Kocinski all the way from first base. Jankins then struck out Anthony Lazar for his third strikeout of the inning.

Jankins also struck out the side in the bottom of the fifth inning before the Bobcats took the lead in the top of the sixth inning. Moskey led off with a double and moved up to third based on Pescitelli's ground out to second base. Iannotti lifted the first pitch he saw to centerfield for a sacrifice fly to score Moskey, but ended up reaching first base as the ball was misplayed by Graham McIntire.

The Bobcats could not hold onto the lead as the Red Foxes tied the game once again. Tyler Kirkpatrick led off with a single through the left side of the inning and moved up to second as Kocinski reached on an error by Matthew Batten (Shelton, Connecticut) at shortstop. Frank Gregoire sacrificed both runners into scoring position before Kirkpatrick scored on Joey Aiola's RBI groundout to Nelson at second base.

Marist scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to win the game. Kirkpatrick reached on a one out single followed by walks to Kocinski and Gregoire loaded the bases. Aiola doubled down the right field line to score Kirkpatrick and Kocinski followed by Racusin's RBI groundout that scored Gregoire.

The Quinnipiac baseball team and the Red Foxes will be off on Friday before returning to action on Sunday, March 26 with a doubleheader scheduled to start at 12 PM.