QU Baseball Sweeps Saint Peter's In MAAC Doubleheader, 5-1 and 7-0

Sunday, April 23

Hamden, CT

12 PM

Quinnipiac University

13-23, 6-8

Saint Peter's University

0-22, 0-11

Saint Peter's

Quinnipiac

QU Baseball Sweeps Saint Peter's In MAAC Doubleheader, 5-1 and 7-0

4/23/2017 5:23:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: QU Sports Information

HAMDEN, Connecticut – The Quinnipiac University baseball team swept a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference doubleheader against Saint Peter's, winning 5-1 and 7-0, at the QU Baseball Field in Hamden, Connecticut. With the sweep, Quinnipiac improves to 14-23 overall and 7-8 in the MAAC while St. Peter's drops to 0-23 overall and 0-12 in conference play. The Bobcats sweep their second MAAC series of the season and also improve to 6-1 at home including a 6-0 mark against conference teams on their home field.

Brian Moskey (Higganum, Connecticut) was 5-for-7 with two runs scored in the doubleheader with a 2-for-3 outing in Game 1 followed by a 3-for-5 day in the nightcap. Liam Scafariello (Southington, Connecticut) was 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored with a 2-for-4 day in the second game. Mike Palladino (Rockville Center, New York) was 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored in the first game while Andre Marrero (West Springfield, Massachusetts) was 2-for-3 with three RBI in the second game.

On the mound, Taylor Luciani (Berlin, Connecticut) and Robbie Hitt (Suffield, Connecticut) both picked up wins for the Bobcats. Luciani held St. Peter's to a run on five hits over seven innings for the complete game while Hitt held St. Peter's scoreless while striking out five over seven innings in a nine-inning shutout. Wyatt Hamilton (Falmouth, Massachusetts) and Mike Davis (Sandy Hook ,Connecticut) each logged a scoreless inning in the second game.

Quinnipiac returns to action on Tuesday, Apr. 25 when it hosts the University of Hartford at the QU Baseball Field at 3 p.m. The Bobcats will follow their game against Hartford with a trip to UMass on Wednesday, Apr. 26 followed by a three-game series against Canisius on Apr. 29-30.

Game 1 – Quinnipiac 5, St. Peter's 1 (7 Innings)
Quinnipiac starter Luciani picked up the win to improve to 2-5 on the year after holding the Peacocks to one run on five hits while striking out four. Palladino was 3-for-4 with two RBI while Moskey was 2-for-3 with a run scored.

In the third, Saint Peter's Cole Robbins walked to lead off the inning before being bunted over to second by Alex Slawinski. Paul Schifilliti then hit a loop single to right field to score Robbins from second and give the Peacocks a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom half of the inning, Moskey led off with a bunt single and then moved to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Anthony Cruz. After a wild pitch by Peacocks' starter Jake Regina that allowed Moskey to move over to third, Palladino's single through the left side of the infield scored Moskey to tie the game at 1-1.

In the fourth, Scafariello walked and moved to second on a squeeze bunt by Ben Gibson that resulted in Matthew Batten being retired at the plate. Julius Saporito (Manalapan, New Jersey) then hit a ground ball to the first baseman in the hole, who attempted to the start the double play. On the relay to first, St. Peter's Jesse Matos got tangled up lunging for the ball. Scafariello never stopped running and crossed the plate with the go-ahead run to give Quinnipiac a 2-1 lead heading to the fifth.

In the fifth, Ryan Nelson (Knoxville, Tennessee) lined a double down the left field line and then scored from second on a single to left by Palladino to give Quinnipiac a 3-1 lead. Palladino moved to second on the throw to the plate and then scored on a single by Joseph Burns, which also allowed Burns to move to second on the play at the plate. The Bobcats added a run late for the 5-1 win.

Game 2 – Quinnipiac 7, St. Peter's 0 (9 Innings)
Quinnipiac put two runs across in the second inning when Marrerro's one-out double scored Ben Gibson (Sagamore Beach, Massachusetts) and Moskey. The Bobcats piled on three more runs in the sixth. Joseph Burns (Shelton, Connecticut) reached on an error by the shortstop before Batten doubled to right field to score him from first base. Scafariello then hit a laser to the base of the right center field fence to score Batten. After Scafariello stole third base, Moskey stroked his second single of the game to score Scafariello and give Quinnipiac a 5-0 lead.

Hitt was the story of the game who hurled five scoreless innings while scattering seven hits and striking out five. Hitt retired the first nine batters he faced before a double play in the top of the fourth helped Hitt escape danger. Hitt was at his best in the fifth when St. Peter's loaded the bases before the Bobcats' hurler struck out the next two batters he faced. He then got St. Peter's Cole Robbins to hit a bouncing ball to first, setting up Hitt to take the feed from Gibson and beat Robbins with a dive to the bag to end the inning.

In the eighth, Scafariello reached on a hard-hit single to center before he was put-out at second on Gibson's ground ball to short. Moskey then singled to move Gibson to second before Marrero drove in his third run of the day with a double. Nelson then drove in Marrero to give the Bobcats a 7-0 lead.