Bobcats Advance to MAAC Baseball Championship Semifinals
MAAC Sports
FISHKILL, N.Y. – Quinnipiac advances in the winner’s bracket of the championship and will face fourth-seeded Siena at noon on Friday, May 22. Canisius will face the winner of game five, either No. 5 seed Monmouth or No. 6 seed Marist, on Thursday, May 21 at 7 p.m.
Pitching was the name of the game through the first half of the matchup as both starters held the opponents offense off the board for five innings. Canisius starter Alex Godzak gave up just three hits, no more than one per inning, through the first five frames and walked just two to keep the Griffs in the game and give their offense a chance to take the lead. Quinnipiac hurler, Robbie Hitt, matched Godzak in effectiveness not allowing a run to cross the plate through six innings also giving up three hits and walking one with two runners reaching base on hit by pitches. Both Godzak and Hitt got into some trouble during the early frames but were able to work themselves out of sticky situations to preserve the 0-0 score.
The offense got started in the top of the sixth as Quinnipiac infielder Scott Donaghue began the inning with a single up the midde. Infielders Matt Batten and Vincent Guglietti followed up with back to back singles to load the bases for the Bobcats. Catcher Lou Ianotti sent a single through the right side scoring Donaghue and Batten trailed behind giving the Bobcats a 2-0 lead. Guglietti advanced to third and Ianotti took second on a throw to the plate to put runners on second and third. Outfielder Robbie Pescitelli sent a fly ball to right field for the sacrifice fly scoring Guglietti for a 3-0 advantage.
After surrendering a single, Hitt settled in for another scoreless frame in the sixth. Bobcat outfielder Mike Palladino led off the seventh inning with an infield single to third base. With two outs, Batten drove a ball into deep left center and legged out a triple to drive in Palladino giving Quinnipiac a 4-0 lead. Guglietti followed with an intentional walk bringing Ianotti back to the plate with runners on the corners. The catcher knocked a single through the right side to bring Batten around to score for a 6-0 lead.
Canisius came to the plate in the bottom of the seventh in an attempt to mount a comeback. Infielder Anthony Massicci led off the inning with a walk and outfielder Zach Garick followed up with a free base to put runners on first and second with no outs. After a fielder’s choice, outfielder Connor Panas sent a flyball to left field scoring Massicci on a sacrifice fly bringing the score to 5-1 before Hitt was able to get out of the inning.
Infielder Ben Gibson put the final run of the game on the board for the Bobcats sending a long fly over the center field fence for a solo home run giving Quinnipiac a 6-1 advantage heading into the final frames of the game. Relief pitcher Matt Lorenzetti came to the mound in the eighth closing out the eighth and ninth innings for the Bobcats.
Hitt finished the game throwing seven innings giving up one run on four hits and walking three while striking out seven. Ianotti finished his day going two for three driving in three runs for Quinnipiac.
For the Griffs, Godzak threw five and one-third innings giving up three runs on seven hits and walking two while striking out two. Panas finished his day two for four driving in a run.
Tickets for the MAAC Baseball Championship are on sale now at the Dutchess Stadium box office. Admission will be $20 per day for adults and $5 per day for kids 12 and under. All seating is general admission.
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