Baseball Ends Season With Series Loss to Merrimack

Saturday, May 16

North Andover, MA

12:00 PM

Quinnipiac University

23-27, 14-15

Merrimack

25-27, 19-10

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Quinnipiac	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	2	0	6	7	0
Merrimack	0	1	4	0	1	4	2	0	X	12	13	1

Baseball Pregame Huddle Against Niagara (April 22, 2026 in Hamden, Conn.)

Photo by: Rob Rasmussen / P8Photos.com

5/16/2026 6:59:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Lawrence, Mass. – The Quinnipiac Bobcats' season came to a close on Saturday, May 16^th, as they ended the regular season dropping both games of the doubleheader to the Merrimack Warriors, 12-6 and 14-4. With the results, the Bobcats will end the season with a 23-27 overall record and a 14-16 record in conference play.

SCORE
Game One: Merrimack 12, Quinnipiac 6
Game Two: Merrimack 14, Quinnipiac 4 (7 Innings)

RECORDS
Quinnipiac (23-28, 14-16 MAAC) | Merrimack (26-27, 20-10 MAAC)

Game One
Winning Pitcher – Colby Barker (9-3)
Losing Pitcher – Nick Balcom (3-7)

Game Two
Winning Pitcher – Michael Bradshaw (7-1)
Losing Pitcher – Jacob Belecky (2-3)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Game One
For the second straight game, Quinnipiac got on the board first, as Christian Smith flew out to center field, scoring Caden Williamson with the game's first run.

Quinnipiac maintained the one-run lead until the home half of the second inning as Merrimack knotted the contest at one with an RBI single to left-center field.

The Bobcats had the immediate answer in the top of the third inning as Ian Nilsen launched his second home run of the season to put the Bobcats back in front. The Warriors responded in their half of the third inning, plating four runs to take a 5-2 lead.

With the Warriors leading by three after four innings of play, Quinnipiac looked to cut into the deficit in the fifth. Alex Irizarry got the Bobcats within two with an RBI groundout as Caden Williamson crossed the plate. Jack Balcer stepped in as the next batter and made it a one-run game, scoring Kyle Garbowski with a sacrifice fly. In the home half of the fifth inning, Merrimack extended its lead back to two as Greg Cristino hit a solo home run to right-center.

After Merrimack plated four runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh to go up 12-4, the Bobcats looked to make a comeback. Luke Zeisloft brought home James Marino with a fielder's choice in the eighth inning to make it a seven-run game. Later in the inning, Chase Camac also reached on a fielder's choice, which allowed Cole Constable to score to make it a six-run game. That's where the scoring would end as the Warriors took game one of the doubleheader, 12-6.

Game Two
Quinnipiac got on the board first for the third time in this series as Alex Irizarry launched a three-run home run over the right field wall to start the series finale. Merrimack hit a solo home run of their own in their half of the opening inning to make it a 2-1 game after one inning.

The contest would remain 3-1 until Quinnipiac came up to bat in the fourth inning. Luke Zeisloft stepped up to the plate and hit his first home run of the Bobcat, extending the lead to three. The Warriors plated two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, making it a one-run game.

It was all Merrimack after that, scoring eleven unanswered runs over the next three innings, as they closed out the regular season with a 14-4 win over the Bobcats in seven innings.

NEWS AND NOTES

Nine Bobcats picked up at least one hit in the doubleheader against Merrimack, with four of those Bobcats recording multiple hits on the day.
Cole Constable had a solid day at the plate, going 4-for-6 (.667) with one run scored and a walk. Constable hit ### in the final weekend of the season, giving him a .254 average on the year.
Alex Irizarry went 2-for-8 (.250) on the day with four RBIs. Irizarry closed out the season with a .301 average and 40 RBIs, which was the most on the team.
Christian Smith went 2-for-5 (.400) with an RBI on the day. Smith finished his senior season with a .307 batting average and 31 RBIs.
Luke Zeisloft picked up two hits in seven at-bats, including his first home run as a Bobcat.
Ian Nilsen launched his second home run of the season as he went 1-for-4 at the plate.
Caden Williamson, Kyle Garbowski, and Chase Camac each picked up a hit in the doubleheader.
Five pitchers toed the rubber in game one of the doubleheader, and three Bobcats took the mound in the series finale.
Nick Balcom got the start in game one and went 2.1 innings, allowing five runs on six hits, while striking out three.
In his final appearance as a Bobcat, James Pazdera went 2.2 innings, allowing one run on one hit, while striking out four.
J.c Franconere allowed four runs on three hits in one inning of relief work. Franconere appeared in 23 contests this season, the most on the pitching staff.
Josh Lajoie went an inning in relief and allowed two runs on two hits, walked two, and struck out two.
Ethan Freed pitched a scoreless inning in relief, allowing just one hit.
Mason Ulsh got the start in game two of the doubleheader and went 3.1 innings, allowing three runs on four hits, and struck out four.
Jacob Belecky allowed five runs on five hits in his final appearance in his first season as a Bobcat.
Matt Alduino pitched the final 1.1 innings and allowed six runs on six hits to close out his season.