The Quinnipiac Bobcats lost to the Niagara Purple Eagles, 4-3, on Friday afternoon in Hamden, dropping their third Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) series of the year. With this loss on April 3, the Bobcats’ record stands at 12-16 overall and 5-6 in MAAC play.
This result is significant as it marks another close defeat for Quinnipiac, which has struggled in one-run games this season. The team is now 1-6 in such contests.
Niagara took an early lead when Rees Kozar tripled to right-center in the first inning, bringing Jacob Brooks home. Quinnipiac responded in the second with Cole Constable’s sacrifice fly that scored Alex Irizarry. Kozar added another run for Niagara by grounding out and scoring Elijha Hammill in the third inning. The Bobcats tied it again when Irizarry scored his second run of the game on a Chase Camac groundout in the fourth inning.
Christian Smith gave Quinnipiac its first lead with a solo home run over left field in the fifth inning. However, Curtis McKay hit two solo home runs for Niagara—one each in the sixth and eighth innings—to reclaim and secure a lead for his team. The Bobcats were unable to score during their final two innings at bat.
Several individual performances stood out despite the loss: five different Bobcats recorded hits against Niagara; four had multiple hits. Irizarry went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and is now second on his team with 21 runs this season. James Marino went a perfect 2-for-2 at bat with a walk and sacrifice bunt; he leads Quinnipiac hitters with a .354 average. Smith continued his strong streak by going 2-for-4—his seventh straight multi-hit game—and hit his fifth home run of the year, most on the team.
Pitching highlights included Andrew Rubayo’s quality start (five innings pitched, two runs allowed), Mason Ulsh striking out six across three relief innings, and Matt Alduino lowering his earned run average to 2.12 after recording two strikeouts over one inning pitched.
Looking ahead, Quinnipiac will try to avoid being swept by Niagara as they meet again Saturday at noon.
