LOUDONVILLE, NY – Siena Baseball concluded its 2023 season Friday, dropping both ends of a twin bill to Quinnipiac. The Bobcats prevailed 12-11 in 14 innings in a wild opener, and took the nightcap 7-0 to complete the series sweep.
Game One: Quinnipiac 12, Siena 11 (14)
Siena (14-41, 7-17) mounted a pair of remarkable rallies – overcoming a seven-run deficit in the eighth and erasing a four-run margin in the 13
th – but fell just short in what turned out to be a crazy opener.
Quinnipiac (28-24, 16-8) seemingly had the game on cruise control, building a commanding 7-0 lead heading into the home half of the eighth. The Saints had managed just one hit to that point – a one-out double in the sixth by
Vincenzo Castronovo – which broke up a perfect game until that point by Mason Ulsh.
Siena sent 11 men to the plate in the eighth and came through clutch, scoring all six of their runs with two outs in the frame. Five straight batters reached safely, with
Matt Livingston capping the rally with a two-run single to draw the Saints all the way back within 7-6.
Castronovo doubled again to lead off the ninth and, after being sacrificed to third with one out, came across to score on an RBI single by
Kobe Stenson to send the game to extra innings.
Following three scoreless frames to open extras, the Bobcats broke through in the 13
th with four runs on four hits to once again seemingly put the game away. But with their backs against the wall yet again, Siena would not go down without another fight.
With the Saints down to their final strike and final out with the bases empty and trailing by four in the home half of the 13
th,
Randall Hien worked an eight-pitch walk.
Vincent DiNicola and
Danny Barbero followed with singles to load the bases and bring up the potential tying run in
Donovan Montgomery. On Senior Day the senior came through, swatting a game-tying grand slam just over the 325-foot marker in the right field corner to send Connors Park into bedlam.
But Siena's luck ultimately ran out in the 14
th as a sacrifice fly by Anthony Donofrio sealed the Quinnipiac victory.
Remarkably, the Saints registered 13 of their 14 hits after the eighth inning. Castronovo led the way with three hits and was on base five times, while Montgomery drove in five runs total. Meanwhile, four different Bobcats registered three hits apiece as part of a 19-hit barrage.
Game Two: Quinnipiac 7, Siena 0
For the second straight game, Quinnipiac built a 7-0 lead and this time it stood up. The Bobcats pounded out 14 more hits to run their total to 33 for the doubleheader.
Donofrio produced his second straight three-hit game and delivered the crowning blow with a three-run homer to cap the scoring in the sixth for the red-hot Bobcats who will head into next week's MAAC Tournament riding a nine-game win streak. Quinnipiac, who will be the No. 4 seed, is averaging a whopping 13.4 runs spanning their winning streak.
Tim Blaisdell and three relievers combined to scatter five hits – four of which were singles. Five different Siena batters tallied one hit apiece, with Castronovo delivering his third double of the twin bill.
