Baseball Review // Quinnipiac Bobcats, 1 Yale Bulldogs 0 March 22nd, 2023 George H.W. Bush Field New Haven CT

Official Yale Box Score :::

https://yalebulldogs.com/sports/baseball/stats/2023/quinnipiac/boxscore/17118

Photos can be found in a Facebook album here :::

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1211170169613202&type=3

Watching baseball in person officially started for me on this day this year and though the sun was shining there was a bit of a breeze and I wish I had brought gloves and maybe something to cover my ears.   Still, I left an orchestra recital Quentin had at 1:30 to get to this game and as the first pitch was thrown I took a seat.  My initial reactions here are that Yale Field is simply covered in bird shit and so it feels impossible to find a safe place to sit.

To fast forward to the end of this game though, it was announced that due to expected rain on Saturday, the doubleheader this weekend would move to Sunday and Yale would play a single game on Friday afternoon at 2pm.  None of these times work for me, as I was planning on attending the Saturday games, but perhaps the rain will give the seats (and areas around them) a proper cleaning.

This game really felt like it was about the pitching as both teams displayed it strongly.   Ethan Lewis, the starter for Yale, gave up a run in the second inning and that was the only time anyone had scored during this game.   Though, both teams had runners on at times, so there were certainly points where it felt like either team could've scored again but they simply did not.  

Quinnipiac really felt like their win was a combined pitching effort, with six pitchers in over the nine innings.   But Yale had Mick Kelley doing the most during this game with 5.1 innings pitched, no hits given up and six strikeouts.   Even in defeat, I really feel like Mick Kelley was the player of the game.

In the fifth inning Yale had the chance to score with the bases loaded, but after a strikeout Quinnipiac turned a double play to end the inning.  This is how the game went.   Sometimes it was seemingly as simple as two strikeouts and a fly out to end an inning, but other times it felt like lining up the players just to knock them down for the outs.  

The bottom of the seventh saw Hayden Sobecki come in as a pinch runner at first base.   A wild pitch would allow Sobecki to advance to second and then Sobecki would outright steal third.  It looked as if this was the chance Yale needed to tie the game, but a bunt was popped up and caught by Quinnipiac's pitcher, allowing the throw to be made and Sobecki was picked off.   These were truly the types of instances which made this game feel so special.

What this game meant to both of these teams, I do not know because they are in different leagues.   For Yale, yes, this goes against their overall record but not their Ivy League record as they do not start Ivy League play until Friday now.  It could be a friendly rivalry, since both teams are within state, but both teams (especially Quinnipiac) seemed to be very vocal from the dugouts during this game.

As much as I think about the meaning of this game- because I believe you should be in it to win it- I also think about how this was a 1-0 game.   Sometimes all it takes is putting that one run up there and then holding onto it.  It doesn't happen often in baseball, but it certainly made for an impressive game on this Wednesday afternoon.