QU Baseball Falls to Iona 9-4 But Remains in First Place in MAAC

Sunday, April 29

Hamden, Conn.

2:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

20-22, 11-4

Iona

12-28, 6-11

Iona

Quinnipiac

QU Baseball Falls to Iona 9-4 But Remains in First Place in MAAC

4/29/2018 5:23:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: QU Athletic Communications

Bruce Deckert | QU Athletic Communications

SCORE
Iona 9, Quinnipiac 4

RECORDS
Quinnipiac — 20-22, 11-4 MAAC
Iona — 12-28, 6-11 MAAC

LOCATION
QU Baseball Field — Hamden, Conn.

HAMDEN, Conn. — The Quinnipiac Bobcats fell 9-4 to the Iona Gaels on Sunday at the QU Baseball Field. The Bobcats dropped two of three games to Iona in the weekend series, marking the first time this season they've lost a MAAC series.

Quinnipiac (11-4 MAAC) remains in first place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Canisius (12-6) is in second place and Marist (10-5) is third. Iona remains in 10th place in the 11-team league.

Quinnipiac has been in first place since day one of the conference season. Heading into this weekend, the Bobcats had won four straight MAAC series this season.

The Gaels scored first Sunday, in the top of the second inning, taking a 1-0 lead on a single, a walk and an error. Bobcats senior Ben Gibson answered right away in the bottom of the second, launching a solo home run over the fence in left-center to tie the score 1-1.

Iona scored two unearned runs in the top of the fourth for a 3-1 lead. While the Gaels did record three hits in the inning — a double and two singles — the sloppy Bobcats' defense committed two errors, resulting in the two runs.

Quinnipiac tried to rally in the bottom of the fifth. Senior Anthony Cruz singled to right field with one out, followed by freshman Ian Ostberg's two-out single to left-center. However, the Bobcats couldn't capitalize.

In the top of the sixth inning, the floodgates opened for Iona. The Gaels scored five runs to stretch their lead to 8-1, benefiting from three walks, four singles and a double against junior starter Tyler Poulin and freshman reliever Arthur Correira, who entered the game with two outs in the inning.

Sophomore Evan Vulgamore and Gibson hit solo home runs in the bottom of the sixth to cut the Bobcats' deficit to 8-3. Gibson's dinger gave him 11 this season, which leads the MAAC. In the bottom of the seventh, Ostberg doubled to right-center with two outs but was stranded at second base.

The Gaels added another run in the top of the ninth inning to extend their lead to 9-3. In the bottom of the ninth, senior Julius Saporito slugged a solo home run to right field with one out to cut Iona's lead to 9-4, but that's as close as the Bobcats would come.

Sophomore starter Stephen Hansen (2-3) nabbed the win for Iona. Poulin (3-6) started strong for Quinnipiac, striking out the side in the first inning, but ended up being tagged with the loss. The Bobcats' bats were quiet except for Gibson (2 HRs), Vulgamore (HR), Saporito (HR) and Ostberg (2-for-3, double).

NEXT UP
In first place in the MAAC, the Bobcats will host Central Connecticut for a nonconference contest on Wednesday at 3 p.m. at the QU Baseball Field.

GAME NOTES
• With this weekend's series in the books, Quinnipiac has played the first four games of an eight-game home stand, which started with a 6-5 nonconference win against Hartford on Tuesday. The home stand was originally slated for nine straight, but the nonconference home game scheduled against UMass on Wednesday was rained out.

• Sunday's game was played under cloudy skies, with temperatures in the 50s, after overnight rain pushed the start time from noon to 2 p.m.

• Saturday's doubleheader split was graced by plenty of sunshine and blue skies at the QU Baseball Field, nestled adjacent to the rolling hills of Sleeping Giant State Park, with temperatures near 70 degrees. This was a welcome change after a cold spell this spring in Quinnipiac's home state of Connecticut. Daytime temperatures have often been in the 40s and 50s, 10-20 degrees below normal for this time of year. In fact, the early springtime witnessed several April snowstorms — the accumulation on campus was minimal and melted quickly, but still ... snow in April? Here's guessing that most (if not all) QU students are hoping no May snow is on the horizon.