Softball Plays At Fairfield On Thursday At 3:30 PM
Fairfield University (13-13, 1-1 MAAC)
Thursday, April 7, 2011 - 3:30 p.m.
Alumni Softball Field - Fairfield, Conn.
On The Road Again
The Quinnipiac University softball team (19-14, 3-1 NEC) travels to play Fairfield (13-13, 1-1 MAAC) on Thursday, April 7 at 3:30 p.m. Quinnipiac enters the game after winning three-of-four contests in its opening weekend of Northeast Conference play. The Bobcats split a doubleheader with Mount St. Mary's on Saturday, April 2 and swept Monmouth in a twinbill on Sunday, April 3. In the Stags most recent outings, they defeated Rhode Island in a two-game series on Sunday.
Follow Your Bobcats Live
Live stats for Thursday's contest will be available by clicking on the appropriate links on the official website of Quinnipiac Athletics, www.QuinnipiacBobcats.com.
Scouting Fairfield
Fairfield enters Thursday's non-conference game with a 13-13 mark on the year and at 1-1 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Stags opened conference play on April 2, when they split a doubleheader with Iona College. Fairfield won, 3-0, in game one and lost, 3-1, in the second match-up. The Stags are led b Lauren Liseth who currently bats .350 and has contributed a team-high 18 hits and 20 runs scored. Liseth also leads Fairfield in slugging percentage (.663). Kristina Lingo leads the Stags in RBI (22), while Kristen Filicia has the team's highest on base percentage (.447). Sarah Minice has earned a 5-5 overall record, with one save, and posts a team-high 2.06 ERA. Minice has appeared in 13 games for the Stags, striking out 63 batters across 71.1 innings.
All-Time Against The Stags
Quinnipiac holds an all-time record of 6-4 with Fairfield dating back to 2003. Last season, the Bobcats went 1-2 with the Stags. Quinnipiac won, 4-3, on March 20, and lost in two contests later in the year.
NEC Play Begins
Last weekend, Quinnipiac improved to 3-1 in the NEC after it split a doubleheader with Mount St. Mary's and swept Monmouth in two contests. On April 2, the Bobcats dropped its first NEC game of 2011 to the Mount, 11-6. Quinnipiac came back to take a 6-2 victory over the Mountaineers later that day. On April 3, the Bobcats shutout Monmouth, 2-0, in game one and picked up a 4-1 win against the Hawks in the second game of a doubleheader.
Seven Scored At Storrs
The Bobcats defeated Connecticut, 7-3, on March 31. Quinnipiac's Christy Cabrera and Jacqueline Ristow each went 2-for-5, while Bridget Figmic and Lauren Salgado each went 2-for-4. The Bobcats had six different players score against the Huskies, while seven Bobcats each contributed a hit. Heather Schwartzburg picked up her ninth win of the year as she pitched six innings for Quinnipiac. Junior pitcher Mina Duffy appeared in one inning for the Bobcats.
Pretty Pitching
As of April 5, the Bobcats led the NEC in pitching. Quinnipiac pitchers have recorded a combined 2.50 ERA across 32 games. The team also leads the conference in strike outs, with 235 on the year. Junior Heather Schwartzburg leads the Bobcats' pitching with a 12-6 overall record, a 1.56 ERA and 159 strike outs in 125.2 innings.
NEC Weekly Accolades
Heather Schwartzburg picked up her third Akadema/NEC Pitcher of the Week title of the year on April 4. The right-handed junior led the Bobcats to four wins last week, including their first three conference victories of the season. Schwartzburg struck out 22 batters across 24 innings. She only allowed 12 hits and three runs as she maintained a 0.88 ERA and improved her 2011 record to 12-6.
Leading Ladies
Jacqueline Ristow continues to lead the Bobcats, as she's started in all 33 games for Quinnipiac and holds a .306 batting average. The junior infielder has contributed a team-high 33 hits this season, while classmate Christy Cabrera and freshman Jordan Paolucci have each driven in 16 Quinnipiac runs. Paolucci has contributed 23 hits and a team-high 21 runs scored. She's also hit a team-high six homeruns and picked up a .584 slugging percentage and a .476 on base percentage.
Double Trouble
Quinnipiac third baseman Bridget Figmic leads the Bobcats with seven doubles on the year. The sophomore has also contributed 23 hits, 13 runs scored and 13 RBI across 31 games.
Home Run Heroes
Freshman Jordan Paolucci leads the Bobcats with six home runs this season. Last weekend, the Bobcats' Jacqueline Ristow and Alex Alba each hit their first homer of 2011. In addition, Mina Duffy, Joelle Jacobsen and Ashley Heiberger have each hit one home run on the year.
Strong At The Plate
Every Bobcat that appeared in each of the team's last five games, posted a batting average of at least .300. Three of which, recorded a batting average of at least .400, including Bridget Figmic, Christy Cabrera and Jordan Paolucci. The Bobcats out hit their opponents, 44-23, in last week's five contests, and combined for a .333 batting average.
Home-Openers
The Bobcats went 2-2 in its first home games of the 2011 season. On Saturday, March 26, Quinnipiac dropped two games to Harvard University, 8-0 and 7-4. The Bobcats came back to sweep Manhattan in a doubleheader on Sunday, March 27. Quinnipiac won, 5-2, in game one and collected a 10-9 victory over the Jaspers in the second outing of the day.
What's Next For Quinnipiac
Quinnipiac returns to action when it plays back-to-back NEC doubleheaders against Wagner and Bryant on April 9 and April 10, respectively. The Bobcats will face the Wagner Seahawks on Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Wagner Softball Field in Staten Island, N.Y. The team will then take on the Bryant Bulldogs on Sunday at noon at the Bryant Softball Complex in Smithfield, R.I.