QU Defeats Iona To Earn First MAAC Win Of The Season

Friday, April 5

Hamden, Conn.

3:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

7-18, 1-6

Iona

4-22, 0-7

Iona

Quinnipiac

Photo by: Rob Rasmussen / P8Photos.com

QU Defeats Iona To Earn First MAAC Win Of The Season

4/5/2024 8:24:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

HAMDEN, Conn. – The Quinnipiac baseball team won the opening game of the series against the Iona Gaels, 12-3, on Friday afternoon in Hamden.

The Bobcats will improve to 7-18 and 1-6 in the MAAC to start the 2024 season, while Iona will go to 0-7 in conference play and 4-22 overall.

SCORE
Quinnipiac 12, Iona 3

HOW IT HAPPENED
Iona opened the scoring in the top of the first inning, scoring a run off a double down the right field line and a single up the middle to open a 2-0 lead.

The Bobcats got those two runs right back in the bottom half of the inning. Jared Zimbardo led off in the inning with a solo home run to right center field.

ZIM-BOMBS AWAY 💣

Zimbardo leads us off with a homer to right center and cuts it to a 2-1 game!!#BobcatNation pic.twitter.com/BlyY3plFnI
— Quinnipiac Baseball (@TheQBaseball) April 5, 2024

CJ Willis came up later in the inning with Keegan O'Connor on base and doubled down the right field line to tie the game at two.

CJ goes down the right field line for a double to tie the game at two!!#BobcatNation pic.twitter.com/mxNXi4iFKQ
— Quinnipiac Baseball (@TheQBaseball) April 5, 2024

With two runners on and two outs in the second inning, Keegan O'Connor stepped up to the dish and delivered with a two-run double to make it a 4-2 game.

Keegs hits his second double of the day, this time to give us the lead!!#BobcatNation pic.twitter.com/pfCWMnOv0x
— Quinnipiac Baseball (@TheQBaseball) April 5, 2024

Quinnipiac loaded the bases in the third inning and capitalized on the opportunity, scoring two runs in the frame. Gabe Wright walked with the bases loaded to score Christian Smith to make it a 5-2 game before Jared Zimbardo got hit by a pitch to bring home another run.

Iona made it a 6-3 game in the fifth inning as a doubled brought home the run with two outs in the inning. The Bobcats offense got it right back as they struck for three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Gabe Wright singled through the infield to score Matt DeRosa from third. The next batter, Jared Zimbardo, hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Kyle Garbowski and make it a five-run lead. With two outs in the inning, O'Connor delivered again with an RBI single and gave Quinnipiac a 9-3 lead.

O'Connor drives in his third run of the game to extend our lead to six!!#BobcatNation pic.twitter.com/eFrNQWsjD6
— Quinnipiac Baseball (@TheQBaseball) April 5, 2024

The Bobcats added another run in the sixth inning as Jared Zimbardo brought home Matt DeRosa on a sacrifice fly to left field.

In the bottom of the eighth and runners in scoring position, Sebastian Mueller hit a single up the middle to score Wright and Zimbardo, making it a 12-3 game.

NEWS AND NOTES

Six different Bobcats recorded hits and all nine starters got on base in the win over Iona.
Jared Zimbardo led the team with 4 RBIs and finished the day going 1-for-2 with two runs scored.
Keegan O'Connor went 3-for-5 with three runs batted in and one walk.
Sebastian Mueller finished the day going 2-for-6 and drove in two runs.
CJ Willis picked up three hits in five at-bats and drove in a run.
Gabe Wright went 1-for-1, drew four walks, and stole three bases.
Matt DeRosa recorded two hits and scored three runs.
Sam Favieri came out of the bullpen to earn the win and struck out six batters in 5.2 innings pitched.

ON DECK

The Bobcats will play the middle game of their three-game series with the Iona Gaels. First pitch is scheduled for 2 PM and can be seen on GoBobcats.com.