Quinnipiac University
Wagner College
QU Softball Welcomes Wagner and UMass Lowell to Hamden for Opening Weekend
3/23/2018 8:58:00 AM | Softball
Quinnipiac University Bobcats (8-14, 0-0 MAAC) vs.
Wagner College Seahawks (4-10, 0-0 NEC)
Date: March 24, 2018
Time: 12 & 2 PM
Location: QU Softball Field / Hamden, Conn.
Quinnipiac University Bobcats (8-14, 0-0 MAAC) vs.
UMass Lowell River Hawks (4-14, 0-0 America East)
Date: March 25, 2018
Time: 12 & 2 PM
Location: QU Softball Field / Hamden, Conn.
HOME OPENERS
The Quinnipiac softball team has returned to the QU Softball Field, where it will host its first set of games of the 2018 season as the Bobcats welcome Wagner College to Hamden on Saturday for a noon and 2 p.m. doubleheader and UMass Lowell Sunday for a noon and 2 p.m. doubleheader.
SCOUTING THE SEAHAWKS
Wagner is off to a 4-12 start to the season and have yet to play any games in NEC play. The team's offense is led by Stefanie Alpin, who boasts a .360 batting average through 16 games. Arielle Koerber leads the pitching staff with three wins.
SCOUTING THE RIVER HAWKS
UMass Lowell is off to a 4-14 start to the season and have yet to play any games in America East play. The team's offense is led by Casey Harding who boasts a .327 batting average, and a team-high three home runs and eight RBI.
LAST TIME OUT
Junior Taylor Troyan drove in the lone run for the Bobcats as Quinnipiac fell to in-state rival Central Connecticut with a 11-1 win on Thursday afternoon at the CCSU Softball Field.
USF MICHELE SMITH TOURNAMENT RECAP
The Bobcats went 3-2 in the Michele Smith Tournament in Clearwater, Florida. The Bobcats opened the tournament with a 2-0 win over Army, where Casey Herzog pitched a complete-game shutout.
Quinnipiac fell to the University of Tennessee Chatanooga 10-1, but bounced back to defeat the University of Buffalo, 11-0. Erin Larsen hit two homers and drove in six RBI's, while Herzog pitched five innings of shutout ball with five shutouts.
The Bobcats fell to North Florida 9-1, but closed the tournament with a 4-1 victory over Saint Joseph's. Herzog was one out from completing her third shutout in three days, but settled for a complete-game three-hitter
HERZOG NAMED MAAC PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Senior pitcher Casey Herzog was named the MAAC Softball Pitcher of the Week for games through Sunday, March 18, it was announced today by the league office. Herzog went 4-0 for the Bobcats with three complete games, a 0.54 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 26 innings of work.
LARSEN NAMED MAAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Erin Larsen was named the MAAC Player of the Week on Tuesday, March 13 after a strong performance in Quinnipiac's 3-3 weekend at the USF Under Armour Showcase. Larsen batted .500 (8-16) and had seven RBI over the tournament, including a tying home run in the sixth and an RBI single in the seventh in a comeback win over Maine.
NEVER SAY DIE
Quinnipiac had a memorable comeback win over Maine at the USF Under Armour Showcase on Saturday, March 10. The Bobcats found themselves down 8-0 after two innings, but chipped away at the lead and tied the score 9-9 in the sixth on back-to-back homers from senior outfielder Keilani Finley and junior outfielder Erin Larsen. After senior reliever Casey Herzog struck out the side in the bottom of the sixth, junior first baseman Keala Cordeiro put the Bobcats ahead to stay with a sacrifice fly in the seventh, before Larsen added an insurance run with an RBI single.
FIRST 2018 WIN A DRAMATIC ONE
Quinnipiac traveled to Orlando, Florida to open its season at the D9 Orange Blossom Tournament, hosted by the University of Central Florida. The Bobcats earned their first win of the year in dramatic fashion, taking a 5-4 victory over Kennesaw State in extra innings on a two-run walk-off homer from Miranda Magana in the bottom of the ninth. .
MASHING MAGANA
Miranda Magana is picking up right where she left off last season from the plate. Magana went 8-19 (.421) with three doubles, one home run and six RBI's in Quinnipiac's opening weekend at the D9 Orange Blossom Tournament, including a dramatic two-run walk-off homer in the finale (see above). She has missed the last 10 games with an injury, and is currently at .317 with seven RBI on the year.
GOING THE EXTRA INNING...OR TWO
Pitcher Casey Herzog picked up her first win of the season after pitching a nine-inning complete game in a 5-4 win over Kennesaw State, while not allowing an eared run. It was one of Herzog's two complete games in two starts over the opening weekend. Herzog leads the staff with 51 strikeouts and a stingy 1.49 ERA.
THE MAAC PRESEASON POLL
The Quinnipiac University softball team was picked to finish eighth in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, as announced by the conference office on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018.
DRAKE SZN
Junior infielder Rebecca Drake (Whiting, New Jersey) was named to the Preseason All-MAAC team. Drake was the lone Quinnipiac selected to the Preseason All-MAAC Team and is the first Bobcat player to be selected since Nikki Barba and Jordan Paolucci were selected prior to the 2015 season. Last season as a sophomore, Drake earned First Team All-MAAC honors after starting in all 50 games for the Bobcats and tying the program-record for most hits in a single season with 66. Drake led Quinnipiac with a .407 batting average and 28 RBI's. Drake was also tied for second on the team with five home runs.
VETS IN THE BOX
Quinnipiac returns 13 players from last year's squad, 10 of which are juniors or seniors. Quinnipiac returns all five of the teams' hits leaders in Rebecca Drake (66), Miranda Magana (56) (Santa Paula, California), Erin Larsen(40) (Kissimmee, Florida), Keala Cordeiro (39) (Huntington Beach, California) and Lexi Courtney (34) (Scappoose, Oregon).
FINLEY RETURNS
Of the 13 players returning, one is red-shirt senior Keilani Finley who missed all but six games last season due to injury. In Finley's last full season in 2016, she started in all 57 games with a .263 batting average and team-high four home runs and 22 RBI's. A year ago, she hit one home run in her brief action, but it was a memorable one, going yard against national power Arizona in the early season.
BOBCATS IN THE CIRCLE
Quinnipiac returns all three of its pitchers from last season in Casey Herzog, Abbey Long and Kendall Brundrett. Long led the team with 11 wins and a 3.39 ERA last season, which earned her a MAAC All-Rookie Team selection. Herzog finished with 10 wins and a 3.44 ERA, while leading the team with four shutouts and 106 strikeouts.
WELCOME TO HAMDEN
Three new players join the Bobcats in three freshman, Megan Montalto, Brighid Douglas and Haley Hulitt.
ON DECK
The Bobcats will be back in action when Quinnipiac plays host to Brown for a doubleheader Wednesday, March 28 at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
