The Bobcats played their second of a three game series against the Manhattan Jaspers on Saturday night after losing their first 6-5 the day prior. After getting the lead in the second inning, the Bobcats were unable to add to their tally losing 2-1 in Pomona, N.Y.
Senior catcher/first baseman Christian Smith hit his third extra base hit of the weekend and got into scoring position. He advanced to third on a passed ball, then scored on a ground ball hit by junior outfield/first baseman Jack Balcer.
The Bobcats were able to get on base in each of the following innings but were unable to capitalize.
The Bobcats was unable to maintain their lead for long as Manhattan leveled the score in the bottom of the third.
It was evident Manhattan was ready to take risks in game two whereas Quinnipiac was content with coasting.
Senior infielder Ryan Lordier was walked then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Fellow infield sophomore Guriyandel Salva hit a single into left-center field, evening the score for the Jaspers.
Salva then stole second looking to take the lead which Manhattan nearly did had it not been for sophomore infielder Matt Park making a great stop at third and firing to first for the third out of the inning.
The Bobcats found themselves with runners on the corners with two outs and a chance to retain the lead against the Jaspers but freshman outfielder Chase Camac got on top of the ball leading to an easy out for the Jaspers keeping the Bobcats on a tight leash.
The game stayed even up to the sixth inning where Quinnipiac head coach John Delaney made a pitching change, swapping sophomore starting pitcher Sam Wright with graduate student Nick Balcom where he got two batters to go down looking.
Manhattan makes a pitching change in the top of the seventh as well, swapping junior Joseph Duffield with junior Hudson Pergamit. Sophomore outfielder Jeremy Sosa takes after his name and made a diving catch in right field to deny extra bases for the Bobcats.
The Manhattan dominance on the bump continued as the Jaspers pitching retired 10 straight Bobcats going into the eighth inning.
Lordier gets Manhattan started getting on base and taking advantage of sloppy Bobcat defense by stealing second representing the leading run late in the contest.
With graduate outfielder Payton Matthews at the plate with a full count, Balcom attempted a pick-off at second but the ball got into the outfield allowing Lordier to advance and put the go-ahead run on a silver platter.
That was the second error of the inning, and they’re 23rd of the year for the Bobcats, an area that seems to come back and bite them in each game they play.
Salva found himself at the plate in a high leverage situation once again where he was again, able to punch the ball into the outfield as the Jaspers took control late in the game.
The eighth inning saw an easy one, two, three for the Jaspers as 13 straight Quinnipiac batters were retired.
Graduate student Mason Ulsh took the mound for the Bobcats to keep the damage to a minimum which he did well to his credit, getting three strikeouts in the bottom of the eighth.
Pergamit was still on the mound for the Jaspers as the Bobcats could not get a rally going late on with the last 16 batters were retired as the Bobcats fell to 6-13 on the year.
The Bobcats started their game well but simply made too many mistakes. Each team only had four hits, most of them coming in the first handful of innings making for a dreadful watch under the lights in New York.
Quinnipiac plays one more time tomorrow as it hopes to get some consolidation as the series is already lost and it looks towards the future with their season seemingly impossible to turn around.