Baseball Readies for First Series of the Year

Friday, February 13

Norfolk, VA

2:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

Old Dominion

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Alex Irizarry against Iona in Hamden, Conn.

Photo by: Rob Rasmussen / P8Photos.com

2/12/2026 2:32:00 PM | Baseball

Quinnipiac Bobcats (0-0) at Old Dominion Monarchs (0-0)
Projected Pitching Matchup: Nick Balcom (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Darin Kuskie (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Date: Friday, Feb. 13
Time: 2:00 PM
Location: Elmer Family Baseball Complex | Norfolk, VA.
Watch: Click Here | Live Stats: Click Here | @TheQBaseball

Quinnipiac at Old Dominion
Projected Pitching Matchup: Sam Wright (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. JJ Gatti (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Date: Saturday, Feb. 14
Time: 2:00 PM
Location: Elmer Family Baseball Complex | Norfolk, VA.
Live Stats: Click Here | @TheQBaseball

Quinnipiac at Old Dominion
Projected Pitching Matchup: Andrew Rubayo (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Bailey Matela (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
Date: Sunday, Feb. 15
Time: 1:00 PM
Location: Elmer Family Baseball Complex | Norfolk, VA.
Watch: Click Here | Live Stats: Click Here | @TheQBaseball

NORFOLK, Virginia – The Quinnipiac baseball team kicks off the 2026 season with a three-game set against Old Dominion out of the Sun Belt Conference. Quinnipiac begins a twelve-game road trip to start the new season.

HISTORY VS. OLD DOMINION

Friday's matchup will be the fourth meeting between the two teams in their program history.
Quinnipiac leads the all-time series against the Monarchs, 2-1.
The Bobcats won the first series against the Monarchs, taking the first and final games of that series.

SCOUTING THE MONARCHS

Old Dominion finished last season with a 22-31 overall record and a 15-15 record in conference play.
After winning their opening round game on the Sun Belt Tournament against #22/25 Troy, 4-2, the Monarchs dropped back-to-back contests as their season came to an end.
Old Dominion's first loss in the tournament came at the hands of #12/14 Southern Miss, 10-0. The next day, the Monarchs faced Troy for the second time in the tournament, but a different result ended ODU's season.
Zach Leite is a key returner for the ODU offense as he finished last season with a team-best .343 batting average. Leite started 47 games last year and drove in 34 runs, which was tied for the team lead.
ODU's most used arm, Bailey Matela, returns for his senior season after making 23 appearances out of the bullpen a season ago. Matela recorded five saves in 20.2 innings pitched, while boasting a 6.10 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP.

PRESEASON ACCOLADES

The Quinnipiac Baseball team was picked to finish 3^rd in the MAAC Preseason Poll after last season ended in the MAAC Semifinal round against the Rider Broncs.
Christian Smith was named to the Preseason All-MAAC team as he returns to Hamden.
Smith finished the year with a .329 batting average in 56 contests. Smith tied for the team lead in home runs with 15 and led the Bobcats with 67 runs batted in.
Smith had a tremendous MAAC Tournament last season, finishing the week with a .375 clip (6-for-16), while driving in nine runs in the five games in Pomona, earning him a nod on the All-Tournament team.

KEY RETURNERS

The Bobcats return 19 players from last year's team, with of those players seeing game action.
Of those returners, nine are pitchers: J.C. Franconere, Sam Wright, Griffin Seibel, Mike Poncini, Matt Alduino, Nick Balcom, Andrew Rubayo, Josh Lajoie, and Mason Ulsh.
Ten position players return: Cole Constable, Kyle Garbowski, Sam Ametrano, Christian Smith, Alex Irizarry, Luke Zeisloft, James Marino, Matt Park, Ian Nilsen, and Christian Nilsen.

LOTS OF NEW FACES

Quinnipiac welcomes 16 new faces to its campus this season.
The Bobcats used the transfer portal to bring in sophomore right-handed pitcher Maddex Labuda (Liberty), junior outfield/first baseman Jack Balcer (Widener), senior right-handed pitcher James Pazdera, and graduate outfielder Brendan Edvardsen (AIC).
Quinnipiac also brought in 12 first years, with six being pitchers and six being position players, Peyton Vancas (Pleasant Gap, Pa.), Timothy Park (Bridgewater, NJ.), Chase Camac (Northfield, NJ.), Caden Williamson (Broomfield, Co.), Teagan Beames (New Fairfield, Conn.), Brayden Hromada (Center Moriches, NY.), Joseph Hiller (Center Moriches, NY.), Kevin Rusinak (Manalapan, NJ.), Ethan Freed (Limerick, Pa.), Frank Orrei (Verona, NJ.), Langdon Hazen (Underhill, VT.), and Jacob Belecky (Komoka, Ontario, Canada).

NEXT TIME OUT

The Bobcats are back on the road next weekend (Feb. 20-22), heading to Jacksonville, Florida, to take on the University of North Florida in a three-game set.

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