The Quinnipiac baseball team announced on April 20 that it will play two non-conference games this week, facing the New Haven Chargers on Tuesday and the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils on Wednesday.
These matchups come as the Bobcats prepare to return to conference play later in the week. The team, currently holding a 16-21 overall record and a 9-9 mark in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) competition, will first travel to West Haven for a game against New Haven before hosting CCSU at home in Hamden.
In their most recent series, Quinnipiac secured its second MAAC series win of the season by defeating Canisius two games to one. Highlights included strong pitching performances from Andrew Rubayo and Nick Balcom, as well as offensive contributions from Jack Balcer with two home runs and four RBIs.
Tuesday’s contest against New Haven marks the 90th meeting between the teams since 1963. New Haven leads the all-time series but last faced Quinnipiac in 1998. The Chargers enter with a record of 6-25 overall and have won only one midweek contest this season. Their pitching staff holds one of the highest earned run averages (ERA) in their league.
Wednesday’s matchup will be the 66th meeting between Quinnipiac and CCSU since their first game in 2001. Central Connecticut leads historically but has lost five straight to Quinnipiac, including being swept last season. The Blue Devils are coming off a sweep over Delaware State and have a conference batting average ranking fifth among peers.
Quinnipiac features several statistical leaders among qualifying players: Caden Williamson leads with a .309 batting average; Christian Smith has five home runs; Alex Irizarry tops RBIs with twenty-six; Andrew Rubayo stands out among pitchers with four wins, fifty-four strikeouts, an ERA of 4.29, and fifty innings pitched.
The Bobcats were picked third in this year’s MAAC Preseason Poll after reaching last year’s semifinal round. Christian Smith was named to the Preseason All-MAAC team following his strong performance last season both during regular play and tournament action.
Looking ahead, Quinnipiac returns nineteen players from last year’s roster while welcoming sixteen newcomers through transfers and freshmen recruits across various positions. After these midweek contests, they resume MAAC competition by hosting Mount St. Mary’s for a three-game series starting Friday.
