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Softball Travels For NEC Doubleheaders At LIU Brooklyn, CCSU This Weekend
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Quinnipiac University Bobcats (16-9, 4-2 NEC) at
LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds (11-29, 3-3 NEC)
LIU Field – Brooklyn, N.Y.
Friday, April 6, 2012 – 1 p.m. (DH)
Quinnipiac University Bobcats (16-9, 4-2 NEC) at
Central Connecticut State University Blue Devils (19-11, 1-3
NEC)
CCSU Softball Field – New Britain, Conn.
Saturday, April 7, 2012 – 1 p.m. (DH)
Bobcats Continue NEC Play
The Quinnipiac softball team (16-9, 4-2 NEC) travels to
play a pair of Northeast Conference doubleheaders on the road this
weekend. The Bobcats will first take on LIU Brooklyn (11-29, 3-3
NEC) on Friday, April 6 at LIU Field in Brooklyn, N.Y. QU will then
face Central Connecticut State (19-11, 1-3 NEC) on Saturday, April
7 at the CCSU Softball Field in New Britain, Conn. Both twinbills
will begin at 1 p.m.
Multimedia
Live stats will be available for all games this weekend by
clicking on the appropriate links of the Quinnipiac softball
schedule at the Official Website of Quinnipiac Athletics, www.QuinnipiacBobcats.com.
Fans can also check in with LIU Brooklyn’s live blog for
Friday’s doubleheader by choosing the link above.
Scouting LIU Brooklyn
LIU Brooklyn enters Friday’s contests at 11-29
overall, with a 3-3 mark in conference action. Most recently, the
Blackbirds were shut out by non-conference foe Stony Brook, 7-0, on
April 3. Prior to the loss, LIU swept Bryant in a NEC doubleheader
on April 1, picking up 6-3 and 18-4 wins over the Bulldogs.
Currently, the Blackbirds are 1-3 at home and 3-3 on the road,
while posting a 7-23 record in neutral sites. Nichole Toven leads
LIU with a .294 batting average, .459 slugging percentage, and .450
on-base percentage. Karina Cervantes paces the Blackbirds in hits
(33) and runs scored (14), while Sterling Hoham and Jazmin
Rodriguez have each contributed a team-high 15 RBI this season. In
29 appearances and 25 starts, Sarah Reynolds has led LIU from
within the circle this season. Reynolds posts a 5-17 record, 3.71
ERA and 90 strikeouts this year.
All-Time Against The Blackbirds
Quinnipiac holds an all-time Division I record of 3-30
with LIU Brooklyn, dating back to the 1999 season. Last year, the
Bobcats dropped a NEC doubleheader against the Blackbirds at the QU
Softball Field. QU was shut out, 1-0, in game one and fell, 11-6,
in the second outing of the day on April 16, 2011.
Scouting CCSU
Central Connecticut State currently stand at 19-11
overall, including a 6-1 mark at home. The Blue Devils enter
Saturday’s match-up at 1-3 in the league. After dropping a
pair of NEC games to Fairleigh Dickinson in late March, CCSU went
on to split with Mount St. Mary’s in a conference
doubleheader on April 1. The Blue Devils lost the first outing,
3-1, and came back to win 9-2 in game two. Junior Macy
Stefanski leads CCSU with a .309 batting average, while sophomore
Arielle Bruno has contributed a team-high 27 hits on 102 at-bats.
Senior Rebecca Mussatti has also impacted the team’s offense
this season, scoring a team-best 25 runs, while leading the team in
stolen bases (12). Junior pitcher/infielder Nicole Springer paces
the Blue Devils with 26 RBI. Laura Messina has made 17 starts from
within the circle, earning a team-high 13 wins and 1.76 ERA.
Messina has struck out 124 batters and posts a .206 opponent
batting average.
All-Time Against The Blue Devils
Quinnipiac leads the all-time Division I series with
Central Connecticut State, 19-8, dating back to 1999. Last season,
the Bobcats swept the Blue Devils, 5-0 and 8-3, on April 17, 2011.
Quinnipiac went on to defeat CCSU, 8-5, in the first round of the
NEC Tournament on May 13.
Last Time Out
In its most recent outing, Quinnipiac blanked
Massachusetts, 2-0, in a non-conference match-up at the QU Softball
Field on April 4. Sophomore pitcher Katie Alfiere improved to 5-2
on the season after holding Fairfield scoreless over 4 1/3 innings
while scattering two hits. Senior Heather Schwartzburg came in
relief and pitched 2 2/3 scoreless and hitless innings for her
second save of the year, also striking out six of the nine batters
she faced in relief. Juniors Jacquie Ristow and Bridget Figmic both
drove in a run, while Figmic and freshman Nikki Barba each scored a
run in the Bobcats' victory.
Schwartzburg Leads With Strikeouts
Senior Heather Schwartzburg picked up her
100th strikeout of the season in Wednesday’s
outing against Fairfield. Schwartzburg currently posts a team-high
104 strikeouts on the year, making it her fourth consecutive season
with at least 100 strikeouts. Last year, she broke the QU
single-season strikeout record, which she had previously set, with
296 strikeouts. She currently leads Quinnipiac’s all-time
history in career strikeouts with 861 overall.
Pretty Pitching
QU starting pitcher Heather Schwartzburg currently leads
the Bobcats with a 1.25 ERA, nine wins, two saves and in opponent
batting average (.180). Quinnipiac ranks third in the conference in
ERA, second in opposing batting average and runs allowed. The
Bobcats lead the league in hits allowed.
Alba’s Playing Awesome
Junior Alex Alba continues to lead the Bobcats with a .366
batting average. As of April 2, Alba’s batting average ranked
fifth in the NEC. Her team-leading .606 slugging percentage also
stands in the top-five of the conference and 150th in
the national rankings, while her nine doubles are third amongst
league opponents.
RPI Rankings
The Bobcats currently stand 121st in this
week’s NCAA Softball RPI Rankings, which make Quinnipiac the
second NEC school tabbed in the standings. League opponent
Fairleigh Dickinson currently occupies the 115th position in the
national rankings.
Dangerous Defense
Quinnipiac currently leads the conference and ranks third
in the national standings in fielding percentage at .980. Together,
the Bobcats have only made 14 errors in 25 games this season.
Walk This Way
Senior Christy Cabrera is currently the most walked member
of the Quinnipiac softball team. Cabrera has been walked 12 times
this season, helping Cabrera post the team’s second best
on-base percentage (.378).
Stealing Stats
Salgado continues to lead the Bobcats’ efforts in
stolen bases as she leads the team with five on the season.
Quinnipiac has out-stolen its opponents, 21-to-11 throughout the
2012 campaign and are tied in fourth in stolen bases in the
NEC.
What’s Ahead For The Bobcats
Quinnipiac returns to action when it hosts Connecticut on
Wednesday, April 11 at 3:30 p.m. at the QU Softball Field in
Hamden, Conn.
Contact: Lindsay Oliveri, lmoliveri@quinnipiac.edu
