Quinnipiac takes series from Fairfield, remains tied for 1st in MAAC

The Quinnipiac University baseball team went on to win two of the three games in their weekend series over Fairfield, which helped them remain tied for first in the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference.

On Sunday, the Bobcats came out on top in the pitching duel by a score of 2-1.

Quinnipiac starting pitcher, junior Justin Thomas, went on to throw 5 2/3 innings while giving up six hits and a single, unearned run in the first inning.

Thomas said, “We’ve been doing a good job as a team in terms of executing in key situations, especially in our conference series. Being able to have won this series is huge for us since it keeps us tied for first.”

After Thomas was replaced in the sixth, teammate Robbie Hitt came on in relief shutting down Fairfield in 2 1/3 innings and earning the win. Gregory Egan was awarded the save after coming in the ninth, striking out both batters he faced.

Despite not earning the victory for the Bobcats, Thomas was confident he helped the team during the early innings while his relief was able to help the team get the win down the stretch.

Thomas continued, “I feel like I’ve down a good job in keeping our team in the game, while gaining a lot of help from the defensive plays behind me and the other pitchers. Our relief pitching has been great these past few weeks. They’ve all shown that we can give them the ball and be confident in key situations.”

The Bobcats had a hard time finding their first hit, which finally came in the fourth inning on a single from Matthew Batten. After stealing second and getting to third on an overthrow, Batten scored the Bobcats first run of the day on an RBI single from Matthew Oestreicher.

The Bobcats took the lead in the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly from Ben Gibson, which scored teammate Vincent Guglietti. Fairfield was able to make it interesting in the ninth getting two people in scoring position, however, Egan shut them down and preserved the victory for the Bobcats.

With the win, the Bobcats are the first team to reach ten wins in their conference at 10-5 and 17-18 overall.