Thursday, April 2
Hamden, Conn.
3:00 PM
Quinnipiac University
12-15, 5-5
6
vs
8
Niagara
10-12, 6-4
1st innning1
2nd innning2
3rd innning3
4th innning4
5th innning5
6th innning6
7th innning7
8th innning8
9th innning9
RunsR
HitsH
ErrorsE
Niagara
2
3
0
1
0
0
2
0
0
8
10
1
Quinnipiac
2
0
0
0
3
0
1
0
0
6
10
4
Photo by: Rob Rasmussen / P8Photos.com
QU's Comeback Falls Short in Series Opener Against Niagara
4/2/2026 8:55:00 PM | Baseball
Hamden, Conn. – The Quinnipiac Bobcats dropped their first game of the series against the Niagara Purple Eagles, 8-6. With the loss, the Bobcats fell to 12-15 overall and 5-5 in MAAC play.
SCORE
Niagara 8, Quinnipiac 6
RECORDS
Quinnipiac (12-15, 5-5 MAAC) | Niagara (10-12, 6-4 MAAC)
Winning Pitcher – Luke Glenn (1-1)
Losing Pitcher – James Pazdera (1-3)
Save – Andrew Damiani (7)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Niagara got on the board first in the opening inning as Elihja Hammill hit a two-run home run down the right field line. Quinnipiac immediately got the runs back in the bottom half of the inning. With the bases loaded, James Marino drew a walk to bring home the first run of the game for the Bobcats. As the next batter, Peyton Vancas followed suit, drawing a walk of his own to tie the game at two.
The Purple Eagles had the answer, striking for three runs in the top of the second inning to take the lead right back.
Niagara made it a four-run game in the fourth inning as Hammill drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 6-2.
Quinnipiac came up in the fifth inning with a comeback in sight. With Caden Williamson on base, Kyle Garbowski sent a rocket to the right-center field wall to score Williamson from first. Garbowski would come home to score on the play as the cutoff throw was made to third with Garbowski standing between third and home. Later in the inning, Christian Smith doubled, advanced to third, and scored on an Alex Irizarry sacrifice fly to make it a one-run game.
Niagara made it a three-run game in the seventh inning as they brought home two runs in the inning. Alex Irizarry brought Quinnipiac within two as he launched his third home run of the season in the bottom half of the seventh.
No more runs were put on the scoreboard as Niagara took the first game from the Bobcats.
NEWS AND NOTES
ON DECK
SCORE
Niagara 8, Quinnipiac 6
RECORDS
Quinnipiac (12-15, 5-5 MAAC) | Niagara (10-12, 6-4 MAAC)
Winning Pitcher – Luke Glenn (1-1)
Losing Pitcher – James Pazdera (1-3)
Save – Andrew Damiani (7)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Niagara got on the board first in the opening inning as Elihja Hammill hit a two-run home run down the right field line. Quinnipiac immediately got the runs back in the bottom half of the inning. With the bases loaded, James Marino drew a walk to bring home the first run of the game for the Bobcats. As the next batter, Peyton Vancas followed suit, drawing a walk of his own to tie the game at two.
The Purple Eagles had the answer, striking for three runs in the top of the second inning to take the lead right back.
Niagara made it a four-run game in the fourth inning as Hammill drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 6-2.
Quinnipiac came up in the fifth inning with a comeback in sight. With Caden Williamson on base, Kyle Garbowski sent a rocket to the right-center field wall to score Williamson from first. Garbowski would come home to score on the play as the cutoff throw was made to third with Garbowski standing between third and home. Later in the inning, Christian Smith doubled, advanced to third, and scored on an Alex Irizarry sacrifice fly to make it a one-run game.
Niagara made it a three-run game in the seventh inning as they brought home two runs in the inning. Alex Irizarry brought Quinnipiac within two as he launched his third home run of the season in the bottom half of the seventh.
No more runs were put on the scoreboard as Niagara took the first game from the Bobcats.
NEWS AND NOTES
- Seven different Bobcats recorded hits in the series opener, with three recording multiple hits in the loss.
- Kyle Garbowski finished the day going 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Garbowski hit his second triple of the season, which leads the team.
- Christian Smith went 2-for-5 at the plate. Smith has recorded 2+ hits in ten games this season and six straight.
- Smith has recorded a hit in ten of the last eleven games he has appeared in.
- Alex Irizarry hit his third home run of the season with his seventh-inning blast down the right field line.
- Caden Williamson extended his on-base streak to 16 as he went 2-for-5 in the loss.
- James Pazdera got the start in the opener, going 3.0 innings and striking out seven.
- Nick Balcom pitched the next three innings in relief, allowing no runs on three hits and striking out three.
- Mike Poncini closed out the game and struck out three over the last three innings.
ON DECK
- The Bobcats and Purple Eagles will play game two of the three-game series tomorrow, April 3rd, with the first pitch slated for 1 PM.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Luke Glenn (1-1)
L: Pazdera, James (1-3)
S: Andrew Damiani (7)
Batting:
2B: Matthew Ganschow 1
HR: Elijha Hammill 1
RBI: Elijha Hammill 4 ; Noah Konings 2 ; Jason Green 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jacob Brooks 2 ; Elijha Hammill 1 ; Curtis McKay 2 ; Jason Green 1 ; Nick Cote 1 ; Matthew Ganschow 1
SB: Curtis McKay 1 ; Matthew Ganschow 1
HBP: Jacob Brooks 1 ; Nate Milk 1
Batting:
2B: Smith, Christian 1 ; Marino, James 1
3B: Garbowski, Kyle 1
HR: Irizarry, Alex 1
RBI: Garbowski, Kyle 1 ; Irizarry, Alex 2 ; Marino, James 1 ; Vancas, Peyton 1
SF: Irizarry, Alex 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Williamson, Caden 1 ; Garbowski, Kyle 2 ; Smith, Christian 1 ; Balcer, Jack 1 ; Irizarry, Alex 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
4
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
5
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
5
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballC/1B
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballOF
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