Athlete of the Semester: Heather Schwartzburg

By Tyler Chaput

Strikeout machine, Heather Schwartzburg, has been chosen by the WQAQ Sports Department as the Athlete of the Semester. Despite never being selected as Athlete of the Week, her incredible consistency and overall performance have made her a stand-out selection.

The freshman from Mission Viejo, Calif., went 15-15 this season while posting a remarkable 1.64 ERA. Over the course off 200 innings, she struck out 206 total batters, leading the team and recording 145 more strikeouts than the next best Bobcat pitcher.

Schwartzburg also led Quinnipiac in opposing batting average, holding opponents to .196, and total appearances with 35.

This young work-horse certainly seems to be moving in the right direction. With one year under her belt, the future looks bright for Schwartzburg and the Bobcats.

Softball needs to sweep RMU to make playoffs

By Andrew Fletcher

The Quinnipiac Bobcats softball team is not eliminated from playoff contention.

According to the Northeast Conference Web site, the Bobcats will need to sweep a doubleheader against Robert Morris to clinch the fourth seed in the four-team NEC tournament.  If they lose either game, they will be eliminated.  The games will likely be played on Saturday.

WQAQ Sports apologizes for any confusion today’s broadcasts might have caused.

Three games on sports stream today

By Andrew Fletcher

At noon, Justin Cohen will broadcast softball’s doubleheader against Bryant on our softball sports stream.

At 1 p.m., Andrew Gau, Jeremy Schilling and Aaron Tanguay will call women’s lacrosse against Mount St. Mary’s on our lacrosse sports stream.

Also at 1 p.m., Mike Radomski will have the baseball call against Mount St. Mary’s on our baseball sports stream.

Three games on sports stream today

By Andrew Fletcher

Busy day ahead for the WQAQ Sports Department.  At noon, baseball is playing a doubleheader in Maryland against Mount St. Mary’s.  Mike Radomski will have the call on the baseball sports stream.

At 1 p.m., Corey Hersch, Andrew Gau and Robin Schuppert will call men’s lacrosse against Denver on the lacrosse sports stream.

Also at 1 p.m., softball is playing a doubleheader against Central Connecticut, with Alex Birsh, Jeremy Schilling and Amanda Pugliese bringing you the action live on our softball sports stream.

Be sure to listen and support the department and your Bobcats!

Softball, baseball live on sports stream

By Andrew Fletcher

The Quinnipiac Bobcats softball team is traveling to Fairleigh Dickinson to play a doubleheader at 3 p.m.  Justin Cohen will have all the action live on our softball sports stream.

Meanwhile, the baseball team is taking on Fairfield at 3 p.m. in Hamden.  Corey Hersch, Tom Butto and Andrew Gau will have that call on our baseball sports stream.

Softball doubleheader live on sports stream

By Andrew Fletcher

The Quinnipiac Bobcats softball team is playing at doublehead at Fordham today beginning at 3 p.m.

Mike Radomski will have the action live on the softball sports stream.

Women’s lacrosse and softball live on sports stream

By Andrew Fletcher

Mike talked about today’s simulatenous broadcasts in the previous post.

At 2:30 p.m., Corey Hersch, Aaron Tanguay and Mike Radomski will call women’s lacrosse against Detroit Mercy on the lacrosse sports stream.

Tom Butto, Miles McQuiggan and Jamie Palatini will then have softball against UConn on the softball sports stream at 3:30.

Enjoy and help us make WQAQ history!

Bobcats Bounce Back, Sweep FDU Knights

Bobcats Bounce Back, Sweep FDU Knights
by Tom Butto
April 7, 2008

HAMDEN — A day after the Quinnipiac University softball team lost both games of a double header to in-state rival Sacred Heart University, the Bobcats stepped onto the field and swept the Knights of Fairleigh Dickinson University on Sunday.

The Bobcats (13-24, 3-5 NEC) won the first game in the double header against the NEC opponent 4-2.

The Knights (5-12, 1-5) put up the first run of the game in the fifth inning off of Quinnipiac starter Kristin Sheriff when FDU’s starting pitcher, Trina Fields, hit a home run deep to left center field.

The Bobcats did not take much longer to strike back, when in the bottom of the fifth inning, Quinnipiac did the little things to manufacture a run. After Kelly Wall hit a double to lead off the inning, Heather Maffeo laid down a sacrifice bunt to move wall to third, and Carry Simms hit an RBI single to tie the game at 1.

Quinnipiac took command of the game in the sixth inning with an offensive explosion when Sheriff led off the inning with a single, and was replaced on the base paths by Angela Casella. Christine Bourdeau drove home the pinch runner to give the Bobcats a 2-1 lead.

Later in the inning Bourdeau stole third with two outs and Kelly Wall had a clutch two out hit to give them a 3-1 lead and Maffeo drove Wall home for the final run of the inning to give the Bobcats a 4-1 lead.

Kristin Sheriff pitched a complete game for the Bobcats in the winning effort. Sheriff struck out six, walked four, and gave up two earned runs.

While offense was the story of the first game, the second game of the double header was all about pitching for both teams.

Jaimie Iaquinto and Ashley Buchanan battled each other in a pitcher’s duel as both took shut outs into the eighth inning of a regulation seven inning game.

In that eighth inning, the Bobcats looked like they were on the ropes when the Knights scored two runs on Iaquinto, the emerging ace for the Bobcats.

The Bobcats rallied in the bottom of the inning when Quinnipiac’s Joelle Jacobsen scored on an error and another two out clutch RBI base hit by Kelly Wall.

The Bobcats then came up in the bottom of the ninth inning looking to win the game. Carry Simms led off with a walk, and was replaced by pinch runner Julie Sini. Jill Viglione sacrifice bunted Sini to second. The Bobcats’ final clutch base hit came in the form of Emily Bellush’s shot that hit the base of the wall to win the game by a final of 3-2.

Jaimie Iaquinto pitched nine innings for the complete game victory while striking out three, walking three, and giving up two earned runs. Kelly Wall went 3-4 in the game.

Softball Loses Double Header to Pioneers

Softball Loses Double Header to Pioneers
by Tom Butto
April 6, 2008

HAMDEN — The Quinnipiac University softball team lost both games of their double header to in-state rival Sacred Heart University (13-14, 5-1) on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Bobcat Field.

The Bobcats (11-24, 1-5) ran into a pitching road block and a hitting clinic in the first game in the form of Megan Spehar, a star pitcher on the Pioneers team. Spehar befuddled the Bobcats hitters in a complete game six hit performance. The veteran senior pitcher only gave up one earned run as she painted the outside corner of the paint throughout the game.

The two runs scored by the Bobcats came on a throwing error by Shannon McCoy scoring Jill Viglione from second base. The next run for Quinnipiac came on an RBI single by sophomore outfielder Heather Maffeo to tie the game.

Spehar helped out her own cause with an RBI single in the sixth inning, she also had three hits and scored a run. The pitcher has seven RBI and is batting .228 on the year.

In the second game of the double header, the Bobcats had an equally difficult challenge, going up against the dominating freshman pitcher for the Pioneers, Jen Russell. Before the second game, Russell was 6-7 and had been a workhorse, pitching 86 innings.

Sacred Heart got the same results as Russell, as she pitched six innings, giving up one unearned run on an RBI single by Emily Bellush.

Taylor Frolich, Melissa Mezzanotte, and Shannon McCoy all had two RBI in the winning effort for Sacred Heart.

Softball splits NEC double dip against Wagner

Softball splits NEC double dip against Wagner
by Tom Butto
March 30, 2008

HAMDEN – After a rough double header on Saturday that resulted in 8-0 and 7-0 losses to conference foe Long Island University, the Bobcats looked to put up their first conference win of the season, this time against Wagner. They were also looking to break a three-game losing streak.

Quinnipiac (11-20, 1-3 NEC) did get that win in the second game of the double header by beating the Wagner Seahawks (10-11, 0-2 NEC) 5-2.

“We got a lot of veterans on this team,” said Germaine Fairchild, the head coach of the softball team. “Everyone on the team knows that they need to conserve energy and give it their all when conference play comes around.”

The first game started well for the Bobcats, when they took the lead in the bottom of the first inning. Quinnipiac took a 1-0 lead when Christine Bourdeau lined a one out RBI double to left center field, which drove home senior Jill Viglione.

That ended Quinnipiac’s nineteen inning scoreless streak at home, but that was nearly the only good news in game one for the Bobcats. They scored one run in the fourth, one in the fifth and that was it.

The Seahawks touched up Kristin Sheriff for two runs in the next inning. Sheriff walked two batters before Ami Iwicki drove a two out double that plated the two batters that Sheriff walked.

Sheriff was pitching for the second day in a row, after she threw 5 2/3 innings against Long Island University in the last game of yesterday’s double header.

The Bobcats took a 3-2 lead going into the sixth inning. But that is when the wheels came off of the train when Coach Fairchild replaced Sheriff with Emily Bellush, after Sheriff put the first two batters of the inning on base.

Bellush had no control of her pitches, allowing the runners Sheriff put on to score. She also gave up four additional runs and threw four wild pitches.

The Bobcats wound up losing the first game 10-3.

The second game of the double header produced better results as Jaimie Iaquinto took the mound looking to stop the bleeding from the previous three games.

Iaquinto, the right handed sophomore, dazzled the Wagner batters. She struck out ten batters while giving up only two runs on four hits.

In a two inning stretch during the second and third inning, Iaquinto struck out four batters in a row. She struck out Christina Pinkus, Ami Iwicki, and Jamie El-Aazami all looking.

“Jaimie pitched great today in an effort that we really needed,” said Fairchild. “But let’s not forget Brianne Sloane. Behind every pitcher there is a great catcher, and she caught a great game.”

The Bobcats next game is on the road when they take on Rhode Island University. Their next home games are on April 5th and April 6th when Quinnipiac plays conference opponents Sacred Heart and Fairleigh Dickinson. The game on the 5th will be broadcasted by WQAQ.