April 9, 2006

Box Score

BRIDGEPORT, CT - Quinnipiac starter Chris Wakefield (Ronkonkoma, NY) allowed just six hits over seven innings, Ricky Coppola (Orange, CT) had three hits and an RBI to lead the Bobcats to a 6-1 win over Sacred Heart University in the first game of a Northeast Conference baseball doubleheader Sunday.

Sacred Heart loaded the bases in the first inning against Wakefield, thanks to a pair of walks and a hit batter. Wakefield, who threw 30 pitches in the frame, got SHU second baseman Jason Maiella to hit a ground ball to short with two outs to wiggle out of the jam.

Quinnipiac took a 2-0 lead in the third, getting an RBI double from Coppola and an RBI single by John Delaney. The Bobcats took advantage of a misplayed flyball by the SHU left fielder that allowed leadoff batter Jeff Mainetti (Guilford, CT) to reach second.

The Bobcats tacked three insurance runs in the sixth inning. Tim Binkoski hit a ground rule double to right with one out. After SHU starter Jay Monti got Randy Gress to pop to short, Mainetti singled to right to score Binkoski and took second on the throw home. Peter Kummerfeldt followed with a single to score Mainetti. Coppola hit a pop fly single behind third base to put runners on the corners and an error by the Pioneer shortstop scored the third Bobcat run of the inning.

The Pioneers broke up the shutout in the seventh inning when Maiella doubled and Tony Diaz chased him home with a single to left center.