Baseball Ready For Final Series of Regular Season

Quinnipiac Bobcats (25-22-1, 16-11 MAAC) at Sacred Heart Pioneers (25-23, 15-12 MAAC)
Date: Thursday, May 15^th
Time: 1:00 PM
Location: Veterans Park | Fairfield, Conn.
All-Time Series: Sacred Heart leads the series 27-24
Last Matchup: L, 18-17 (May 14^th, 2024 in Fairfield, Conn.)
Live Stats | Watch | @TheQBaseball

Quinnipiac Bobcats vs Sacred Heart Pioneers
Date: Friday, May 16^th
Time: 1:00 PM
Location: Veterans Park | Fairfield, Conn.
Live Stats | Watch | @TheQBaseball

Quinnipiac Bobcats vs Sacred Heart Pioneers
Date: Saturday, May 17^th
Time: 1:00 PM
Location: Veterans Park | Fairfield, Conn.
Live Stats | Watch | @TheQBaseball

HAMDEN, Conn. – The Quinnipiac baseball team will wrap up the 2025 regular season as they travel to face the Sacred Heart Pioneers in their final MAAC series. The Bobcats and Pioneers will kick off the three-game set on Thursday, May 15^th with the first pitch from Veterans Park slated for 1 PM. The rest of the series is also scheduled to start at 1 PM on Friday, May 16^th, and Saturday, May 17^th.

HISTORY VS. SACRED HEART

Thursday's matchup will mark the 52^nd time the two programs are facing off.
This series will be the first time the two teams will face each other in MAAC play, as the Pioneers are in their first season in the conference.
The last time the two teams faced off, the Pioneers defeated the Bobcats by a final score of 18-17 (May 14, 2024). James Marino led the offense with three RBIs as he went 2-for-3 at the plate.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS

Sacred Heart will enter the weekend series with a 25-23 overall record and a 15-12 mark in MAAC play.
The Pioneers currently sit in fifth place in the MAAC standings and have clinched a berth in the 2025 MAAC Championships.
Sacred Heart is coming off a doubleheader sweep against Maryland Eastern Shore last weekend (May 10). The Pioneers outscored the Hawks 25-17 in the two-game series.
Alex Ungar has started 42 games this season for the Pioneers and leads the team with a .351 batting average. Ungar is second on the team with 39 RBIs and leads the team with 20 doubles. Ungar has launched 11 home runs this season, which also leads the club.
Elijah Foster has started 13 games on the mound for the Pioneers and leads the staff with a 5.15 ERA. Foster has recorded 67 strikeouts in 64.2 innings pitched in his second season with the Pioneers.

LAST TIME OUT

The Bobcats took the opening game of the series against the Saints before dropping the next two games to lose the series (May 8-12).
Quinnipiac took the first game of the doubleheader on May 8^th, defeating the Saints 13-7. Cole Constable led the way with 7 RBIs and finished a single shy of the cycle.
Siena took the second game of the series by a final score of 9-6. Willis recorded two RBIs in the loss as the Saints scored seven runs in the final three innings to even the series.
The Bobcats got on the board first in the series finale as CJ Willis hit a two-run home run, but the Saints scored four runs in the third inning to help them secure the series win.

BOBCATS BY THE NUMBERS

26 – As a team, the Bobcats have the 26^th-best batting average in Division I (.307) and are the only team in the conference with an average higher than .300.
28 – Quinnipiac steals the 28^th most bases in the NCAA with 111, good for third in the MAAC.
35 – The Bobcats are 35^th in the NCAA with 528 total hits this season, which is good for the most in the conference.
55 – QU also ranks 55^th in the NCAA with 395 total runs scored, which is second in the conference.
70 – Quinnipiac is 70^th in Division I with an on-base percentage of .404, which is good for third in the MAAC.
88 – Quinnipiac ranks 88^th in Division I with 61 total home runs, which also leads the conference.

LEADING THE CLUB

Batting Average (BA): CJ Willis - .344
Hits (H): Kyle Garbowski – 69
Runs Batted In (RBIs): CJ Willis - 59
Runs Scored (R): Sebastian Mueller – 52
Home Runs (HR): Sebastian Mueller - 13
Doubles (2B): Alex Irizarry - 18
Stolen Bases (SB): Sean McCulloch - 30
Walks (BB): Sean McCulloch - 39
Earned Run Average (ERA): Andrew Rubayo – 5.75* (Minimum requirement of 1IP/G)
Strikeouts (K): Mike Poncini - 44
Innings Pitched (IP): Andrew Rubayo – 51.2
Wins (W): Mike Poncini, Andrew Rubayo - 4
Saves (S): Ryan Hutchinson - 4

PRESEASON ACCOLADES

The Quinnipiac Baseball team was picked to finish 4^th in the MAAC Preseason Poll.
Outfielder CJ Willis was the lone Bobcat representative on the Preseason All-MAAC team.
The senior started 49 games last season and had a batting average of .284.
Willis hit eight home runs, eleven doubles, and three triples while driving in 42 RBIs.
Willis Drove in a season-high four RBIs in the win against UMass (5/1).

KEY RETURNERS

The Bobcats return 15 players from last year's team, with 12 of those players seeing game action.
Gabe Wright, Christian Smith, Kyle Garbowski, CJ Willis, Sebastian Mueller, and James Marino will be key returners on the offensive side of the plate.
Jack Kabel, Ryan Hutchinson, Mike Poncini, Jack Gannon, Matt Alduino, and Andrew Rubayo will look to make an impact when they toe the rubber.
Matt Alduino and Andrew Rubayo were named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Preseason Watchlist.

LOTS OF NEW FACES

Quinnipiac welcomes 16 new faces to their campus this season.
The Bobcats used the transfer portal to fill the holes in their lineup, grabbing Sean McCulloch (Susquehanna), Johnny Knox (Nichols College), Alex Irizarry (Maryland), Josh Lajoie (Lipscomb), Ryan O'Connell (St. Bonaventure), Griffin Seibel (Xavier), Cole Constable (Maryland), Luke Zeisloft (Maryland), Jackson Bryan (Trevecca Nazarene), and Nick Balcom (Finger Lakes Community College).
Quinnipiac also brought in six first years, J.C. Franconere from Sparta, New Jersey, Samuel Wright from Ardmore, Pennsylvania, Austin Ludwig from Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, Ian Nilsen from Easton, Connecticut, Christian Nilsen from Easton, Connecticut, and Matt Park from Bridgewater, New Jersey.

SEASON OUTLOOK

The Bobcats will open up MAAC play on March 7^th as they start a three-game home series against the Iona Gaels.
Quinnipiac will battle in-state rival Yale on March 19^th at Yale (3 PM) and at home against Yale on April 15^th (3 PM).
On April 1^st, the Bobcats will travel to Storrs to take on the UConn Huskies in a midweek non-conference matchup.
Quinnipiac will play their final home series of the season from May 8-12 as the Siena Saints come to Hamden.
QU will wrap up the regular season at Sacred Heart for a three-game set from May 15-17.

NEXT TIME OUT

The Bobcats will head to the 2025 MAAC Championships at Clover Stadium in Pomona, New York. Stay tuned to GoBobcats.com for updates on the schedule.

For more information on the Quinnipiac baseball team, visit gobobcats.com/baseball and follow the team on Twitter/X, @TheQBaseball, and Instagram, @TheQBaseball.

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Players Mentioned

Matt Alduino

Nick Balcom

Cole Constable

J.C. Franconere

Jack Gannon

Kyle Garbowski

Ryan Hutchinson

Alex Irizarry

Jack Kabel

Johnny Knox

Josh Lajoie

Austin Ludwig

James Marino

Sean McCulloch

Sebastian Mueller

Christian Nilsen

Ian Nilsen

Ryan O'Connell

Matt Park

Mike Poncini

Andrew Rubayo

Griffin Seibel

Christian Smith

CJ Willis

Gabe Wright

Luke Zeisloft

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