QU Softball Cruises To Pair Of Six-Run Wins Over Fairleigh Dickinson

Tuesday, March 29

Hamden, CT

2:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

10-14

Fairleigh Dickinson University

5-18

Fairleigh Dickinson

Quinnipiac

QU Softball Cruises To Pair Of Six-Run Wins Over Fairleigh Dickinson

3/29/2016 6:36:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: QU Sports Information

HAMDEN, Conn. - Senior Sydney Robey (Glenmoore, Pa.) and sophomore Casey Herzog (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) picked up dominant pitching wins as the Quinnipiac softball team captured 7-1 and 8-2 wins over Fairleigh Dickinson on Tuesday afternoon in a non-conference doubleheader at QU Softball Stadium.

With the wins, the Bobcats move to 11-14 on the season, including 3-2 in its opening five home games in the last five days. Fairleigh Dickinson moves to 5-19 on the season with the losses. Herzog and freshman left fielder Sarah Heimbach had a combined three hits apiece in the doubleheader, with Herzog going 2-for-3 in the opener and Heimbach batting 2-for-4 in the nightcap.

Game One
Robey allowed six hits and just one run over six innings of work to lead the Bobcats to the 7-1 win in the opening game. The Bobcats struck first for a pair of runs in the first inning as senior catcher Dani Edmands (Northborough, Mass.) singled homed the first run after Heimbach led off with a walk and went to third when FDU had a throwing error on a sacrifice from senior right fielder Abby Johnson (Chelmsford, Mass.). Edmands was then thrown out at second on the front end of a double steal, but Johnson was able to come home from third with the second run.

After FDU closed to within 2-1 in the second, Robey was able to leave the bases loaded to escape further damage. The Bobcats then plated three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take control, as Robey scored on the back end of a double steal, Herzog had an RBI single and Heimbach tacked on an RBI single to make the score 5-1.

Quinnipiac then put the game out of reach in the bottom of the fifth with two more runs, as freshman third baseman Taylor Troyan (Boca Raton, Fla.) hit a two-run double off the wall in left field (double pictured). That plated both Czaja, who had walked, and Herzog, who had singled, her second hit of the day.

Robey allowed back-to-back singles with one out in the sixth, but after the runners moved up one base on a groundout, she was able to get a grounder to sophomore Emily Czaja (Palmer, Mass.) to end the threat and finish her afternoon in the circle after six innings of work. Freshman Kendall Brundrett (San Diego, Calif.) came on to pitch the seventh inning and did not allow a hit to finish off the Knights in the opener.

Seven of the nine Bobcats starters combined to account for the team's eight hits in the opener, with Herzog the only one with two, as Robey improved to 4-7 on the year with the win, striking out four. Third baseman Kellie Natham was 3-for-3 for FDU in the losing cause, accouting for half of her team's six hits.

Game Two
Herzog threw a complete game five-hitter, allowing just one earned run to get the win, as the Bobcats escaped a late FDU threat and pulled away for an 8-2 victory to complete the sweep.

Quinnipiac got off to a fast start for the second game in a row, scoring four times in the first inning to take a 4-0 lead. Heimbach and Johnson started off the game with singles, and Edmands was hit by a pitch. Robey's grounder resulted in an error that allowed two runs to score, before Czaja tacked on a sacrifice fly and Troyan had a single for her third RBI of the doubleheader.

The score held a 4-0 until the fifth, as Herzog did not allow a hit through the first three innings until Natham singled in the fourth for the Knights. Three Quinnipiac errors led to an unearned run without a hit in the fifth, and the Knights then put some pressure on in the sixth. After Natham doubled with two outs, a miscommunication in the field turned what looked like the third out of the inning into an RBI single from Madison Lerma to make the score 4-2. FDU then loaded the bases to put the go-ahead run on base, but Herzog was able to get out of the jam with a routine grounder to Czaja at second base.

The Bobcats were then able to put the game away with a four-run bottom of the sixth, all with two outs, to make the final score 8-2. Freshman pinch hitter Erin Larsen set the table with a one-out walk, and one out later, Heimbach hit her second single of the day to put two runners on. A slap single in the 5-6 hole from junior left fielder Kat Vitale (Cheshire, Conn.) loaded the bases, and Edmands plated a run with an infield single to make the score 5-2. Robey then followed with an RBI single, and freshman right fielder Sydney Dennis (Kingswood, Texas) had a two-out single to close out the scoring.

Ten different players accounted for the 11 Quinnipiac hits in the nightcap, with Heimbach the only one recoding two. In fact, the only Bobcat starter who didn't have a hit was Czaja, who was 0-for-0 with a walk and a sacrifice fly, while Vitale and Dennis added hits after coming off the bench. Herzog struck out six and walked only two to get the win and improve to 6-7 in the cicle, while Natham was 2-for-2 for FDU to finish a 5-for-5 day at the plate.

Quinnipiac will be back in action tomorrow when it travels to Hartford for a non-conference doubleheader and will then open MAAC play with four home games this weekend, taking on Canisius on Saturday at 12 noon and Niagara on Sunday at 12 noon.