WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The Hartford baseball team split its doubleheader against Quinnipiac on Saturday. The Hawks took game one, 9-6, before dropping game two, 13-6, to the Bobcats. With the result, Hartford moves to 4-32 on the season, while Quinnipiac improves to 20-24 on the year.
GAME ONE: HARTFORD 9, QUINNIPIAC 6 (7 Inn.)
Hartford wasted little time getting the offense rolling in game one, jumping out to an early 1-0 lead. After
Martin Chavarria led off the Hawk's side of the first with a double into right-center field,
Devin Kellogg and
Noah Rivera reached base with back-to-back singles to get the Hawks on the board. However, Quinnipiac found a way to respond immediately, plating the tying run in the second inning until the Hawks would regain their early momentum and score seven runs over the next two innings.
Four straight singles from
JJ Romatzick,
Jackson Ciccone, Chavarria, and Kellogg kicked off the bottom of the second inning for Hartford. Then, with the bases loaded and no one out, Rivera stepped up to the dish and ripped a grand slam home run off the scoreboard in left field, giving the Hawks a 6-1 lead. After batting around the order in the second, the Hawks would not let up, tacking two more runs on in the third. However, the Bobcats would respond in the fourth with a pair of runs to bring game one to an 8-3 score.
Harrison Engstrom followed the Quinnipiac two-run frame with an RBI double in the fifth, scoring Rivera and extending the Hawk's advantage to 9-3. Despite the Bobcats scoring three runs over the final two innings, Hartford's starter
Robert Chaney would hold on to record his second complete game of the season in a 9-6 Hartford victory.
GAME TWO: QUINNIPIAC 13, HARTFORD 6
Quinnipiac jumped to an early 3-0 lead after the first and held Hartford off the board until the bottom of the third inning, where Kellogg would place a two-run double down the left field line. Kellogg's base knock drove home both Chavarria and Romatzick to cut the deficit to one.
However, the Bobcats would open the floodgates in the fourth and fifth innings, tacking seven runs on the board to take a commanding 11-2 lead.
Ryan Knight responded in the bottom half, stepping up to the plate and sending a no-doubt home run over the right field fence to give the Hawks some momentum heading into the sixth.
Hartford would continue to chip away at the Quinnipiac advantage over the next few innings to bring the contest to 11-6 heading into the ninth. However, the Bobcat's lead proved too much for the Hawks to overcome, eventually falling by a final score of 13-6.
INSIDE THE BOX & NOTES
- Chaney (1-5) got the start in game one and picked up the victory after recording his second complete game of the season with five strikeouts.
- Hartford as a team tallied a season-high 16 hits in game one.
- Kellogg went 4-for-8 at the plate with a double and three RBI.
- Rivera had an outstanding day at the plate going 4-for-7 with a home run, five RBI, and three runs scored and a stolen base.
- Knight launched his career-high third home run of the season.
- Edwin Almanzar Jr., (0-9) took the loss in game two after allowing nine runs in 3.1 innings of work.
- Jake Burt, Luke Rier, and Matt Rose each appeared in relief.
NEXT ON TAP
Hartford rounds out its 2023 season on Sunday with a single-game against in-state foe Quinnipiac. First pitch between the Hawks and Bobcats is set for 3 p.m., in Hamden, Conn.
