Quinnipiac University
George Washington University
QU Softball Heads to Washington, D.C. for Colonial Classic Tournament
3/2/2017 1:16:00 PM | Softball
Colonial Classic Tournament
Washington, D.C.
Quinnipiac University Bobcats (3-2, 0-0 MAAC)
George Washington Colonials (4-5, 0-0 Atlantic-10)
Bucknell Bison (8-2, 0-0 Patriot League)
2017 Colonial Classic Tournament Schedule
Saturday, March 4
Quinnipiac vs. George Washington – 2:15 PM
Sunday, March 5
Quinnipiac vs. Bucknell – 9 AM
Quinnipiac vs. George Washington – 1:30 PM
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
This weekend the Quinnipiac softball team will kick off its second tournament of the 2017 season as the Bobcats travel to Washington, D.C. to take part in the Colonial Classic Tournament, hosted by George Washington University.
BAD WEATHER BLUES
The Bobcats were originally scheduled to play four games at the tournament, with the first being Friday, but due to impending weather, all games were canceled for the day.
SCOUTING GEORGE WASHINGTON
The Colonials are off to a 4-5 start after winning two games each in the D9 Orange Blossom Invitational and the UNC-Greensboro Invitational. George Washington's offense is lead by Jenna Cone, who sports a .333 batting average to go along with three home runs and 10 rbi's. The Colonials' leading pitcher is Sarah Costlow, who is 2-2 on the season with a 3.65 era through 23 innings.
SCOUTING BUCKNELL
The Bison are off to a hot 8-2 start to the 2017 season after winning four games each at the Gardner-Webb Tournament and the Winthrop Invitational. Bucknell is lead on offense by Meghan Kovac, who boasts a .382 batting average, as well as a team-leading 14 rbi's. Bucknell has two great pitchers at its disposal in Lara Bean and Raeanne Geffert. Bean is 4-0 so far this season and has a 3.00 era through 25.2 innings pitched. Geffert is 4-2 with a 3.18 era in 33 innings, as well as leading the team in strikeouts with 28.
MADEIRA BEACH INVITATIONAL
The Bobcats opened the season at the EMU Madeira Beach Invitational in Florida. Quinnipiac finished the tournament with a 3-2 record, falling to Oakland, 8-7, then defeating Central Michigan, 3-0, and Villanova, 2-1 to earn the first victories of the year. The Bobcats fell to Boston University, 8-1, before closing out strong with a win over host Eastern Michigan, 4-3.
MAAC WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
Junior pitcher Casey Herzog (Wappinger Falls, New York) was named the MAAC Softball Pitcher of the Week and junior Miranda Magana (Santa Paula, California) was named MAAC Player of the Week as announced by the conference office on Tuesday, Feb. 21.
Herzog and Magana's stellar performance at the Madeira Beach Invitational helped Quinnipiac earn a 3-2 record over the weekend at the Madeira Beach Invitational. This is the first weekly award of the season for Quinnipiac and first of Magana and Herzog's career.
MARVELOUS MAGANA
Magana tallied nine hits in 16 at-bats (.563 avg), including one home run, one triple and one double. She tallied five rbi's, 15 total bases, while boasting a .938 slugging percentage after the first weekend of competition.
QUEEN OF THE PITCHING CIRCLE
Herzog went 2-1 during opening weekend, including a complete game shutout against Central Michigan, giving up only four hits and striking out nine to give the Bobcats their first win of the 2017 season. In Quinnipiac's win against Villanova, Herzog came in to shut the door and earn her first save of the season. In Quinnipiac's final game at the invitational, Herzog took the start and went 5.1 innings, without giving up an earned run and surrendering only four hits, while striking out one batter.
Herzog had a 1.45 era through 19.1 innings over the weekend and compiled a save, two wins, and 15 strikeouts.
STELLAR DEBUTS
A few Quinnipiac players who made their Bobcat debuts stood out over the weekend at the Madeira Beach Invitational. Abbey Long (Eau Claire, Wisconsin) went 1-1 in her first few games as a Bobcat, boasting an 0.75 era in the process. Keala Cordeiro (Huntington Beach, California) blasted a three-run homer in her first game in a Quinnipiac.
THE MAAC PRESEASON POLL
The Quinnipiac University softball team was picked to finish sixth in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, as announced by the conference office on Monday, Jan. 30, 2017.
BOBCAT RETURNEES
Quinnipiac returns 11 players from last year's squad, seven of which are juniors or seniors. In addition the Bobcats will look to a strong core of four sophomores who each played in at least 40 games including Taylor Troyan (Boca Raton, Florida) and Erin Larsen (Kissimmee, Florida) seeing time in more than 40 games. Troyan led the team in batting average (.301), slugging percentage (.466) and second in home runs (2).
VETS IN THE BOX
The Bobcats return three of the four players that led the team in hits in Sarah Heimbach (Greenwich, New York), Keilani Finley (Alameda, California) and Magana. Magana led the team in hits (46), doubles (9), second in batting average (.282) and in total bases (57). Heimbach led the team in on-base percentage (.390), second in stolen bases (5) and runs (21). Finley led the team in home runs (4), triples (2), RBI's (22) and total bases (63).
WELCOME ABOARD
Five new players join the Bobcats in three freshman, Rachel Marchuk (San Ramon, California), Megan Dyson (Bellmawr, New Jersey) and Long, as well as two junior transfers, Lexi Courtney (Scapposse, Oregon) and Cordeiro.
HAMDEN ADVANTAGE
Last season, the Bobcats registered an 11-9 home record at the QU Softball Field.
HEAD COACH JILL KARWOSKI
Head coach Jill Karwoski will guide Quinnipiac in her fourth season at the helm in the hopes of improving on a 2016 season that saw Quinnipiac finish the year at 28-29 overall, which was 10 wins better than the 18 wins the team earned in 2015.
ON DECK
The Bobcats will be be back in action on Friday, March 10 when it begins play in the CSUN Tournament in Los Angeles, California. Quinnipiac will play seven games in three days, including contests against Bryant and Arizona on Friday.
