March 30, 2010

Softball Travels To Connecticut Tuesday, Mar. 30

Second Time Around
For the second time this season, the Quinnipiac University softball team will face off against the University of Connecticut in non-conference action. The game is scheduled for Tuesday, Mar. 30 at the Burrill Family Field in Storrs, with the first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. The Bobcats last played the Huskies in their home opener on Mar. 17, where they earned a 1-0 victory. In their last game, the Bobcats fell to Long Island in a conference doubleheader on Mar. 28.

Scouting the Huskies
UConn currently posts a 8-16 overall record this season with a 1-2 record in Big East conference action. The Huskies most recently went 1-2 in a three-game series with Georgetown, defeating the Hoyas in the third game, 4-3, in ten innings. The team continues to be lead offensively by junior Julianne Towers, who bats .303 through 24 games with 23 hits and 15 runs. Freshman Kiki Saveriano leads the team fro the circle with a 2.27 ERA in 14 appearances with 70 strikeouts.

Last Time Against the Huskies
This is the second time the Bobcats and the Huskies have met this season, as they saw their first match-up on Mar. 17 in Quinnipiac's home opener. The Bobcats came away with a 1-0 win in the game with senior Emily Bellush (Newton, Mass.) earning the win and sophomore Heather Schwartzburg (Mission Viejo, Calif.) picking up her first save of the season. The Huskies tallied just one hit on the day while Quinnipiac had three hits. Freshman Jacquie Ristow (Seal Beach, Calif.) scored the run on a wild pitch in the second inning to earn the 1-0 victory.

Ristow's RBI
Ristow knocked in the Bobcats' lone run of the day in the conference doubleheader against Long Island on Mar. 28. The series against the Blackbirds was the first Northeast Conference match-up of the 2010 season for Quinnipiac, where they lost 10-0 in the first game and 3-1 in the second game. Ristow's RBI came in the top of the fifth inning when she scored senior Kelly Wall (Westport, Conn.) from third on a groundout to second base. It was the first RBI of the season for Ristow.

Running Wall
Third baseman Wall scored the Bobcats' lone run of the day against Long Island, good for her 10th run scored of the season. Wall opened the fifth inning with a single up the middle before she was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Kim Le Bel (Quincy, Mass.). Wall then stole third in the following play, her second stolen base of the season, before she was scored by Ristow. Wall is one of four players this season to start all 26 games.

Lucky Strike
Sophomore RHP Heather Schwartzburg (Mission Viejo, Calif.) pitched in the second game against Long Island on Mar. 28, throwing her 11th complete game of the season. Despite recording the loss, Schwartzburg struck out seven batters on the day, increasing her season strikeout tally to 142.

Field of Dreams
Senior center fielder Angela Casella (Oceanside, N.Y.) is one of four players to start all 26 games this season. She is also the only player to start all 26 games and hold a perfect fielding percentage. Five other players this season also currently hold a 1.000 fielding percentage. Casella has also contributed 21 putouts and two assists this season.