FIRST PITCH
Score: Yale 16 | Queens 3
Records: Yale (1-0 overall, 0-0 Ivy League) | Queens (2-3 overall, 0-0 ASUN)
Location: Charlotte, N.C. (The Stick)
 
The Short Story:
In their home opener of the young 2025 season, the Queens University of Charlotte baseball team fell 16-3 to the visitors from Yale. The Bulldogs rattled off 21 hits which tied for the third most by a Queens opponent in the Division 1 era. The visitors were aggressive on the base paths swiping 10 bags, the most by a Royals opponent in program history. Despite the loss, sophomore Jake Barbour extended his early hitting streak to five straight games.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
-Queens drew first blood in the bottom of the first inning following a leadoff walk from Anibal Rivera. Infielder Jake Barbour stepped in lacing a double down the left field line, but a great play by the Bulldogs outfielder cut down Rivera trying to reach third. The aggressive play didn't halt the Royals as Nick Alderfer followed it up with an RBI single to center field plating Barbour.
-Yale came back and responded in the top of the second inning with two runs on three hits. All three Yale hits were singles, but timely shots allowed the Bulldogs to regain the lead.
-The visitors shut down the Royals in the bottom half of the second and came in and added three more runs on four hits. The Bulldogs capitalized on four hits and two Queens errors to take a 5-1 lead. The Royals managed to escape the jam as a strikeout and interference call at the plate ended the inning.
-Yale retired the Royals in order in the bottom of the third before tacking on three more runs on three hits. The big blow in the inning was a one-out triple from Jake Williams to plate a pair.
-Leading 8-1 after four frames, Yale manufactured another run in the fifth. A one-out single and walk set up a double steal by the Bulldogs to put runners in scoring position. The Bulldogs worked a walk to load the bases and Jeff Pierantoni drove a run in with a sacrifice fly.
-Queens would answer in the bottom of the fifth inning following a leadoff double from senior Will Budnick. Sophomore Jake Barbour delivered the big swing with a two-out home run down the right field line to cut the deficit to 9-3.
-Both offense went scoreless in the sixth inning, but Yale tacked on a pair of runs in the seventh with two hits and a Queens error.
-The eighth inning proved to be the dagger as the visiting Bulldogs plated five runs on six hits. Yale knocked four singles and a pair of doubles to extend their lead to 16-3.

BY THE NUMBERS
-Jake Barbour paced the Royals offense with a 2-for-4 day, including his first home run of the season. The Raleigh native scored two runs and drove in a pair on the big blast.
-Senior Nick Alderfer turned in his first multi-hit game of the season with a 2-for-3 day, including an RBI and a walk.
-Will Budnick and Tyler Peters rounded out the Royals offense with a hit on the day. Budnick laced a double in the fifth inning for his second of the season, and third extra-base hit of the year.
- Seven Bulldogs turned in multi-hit games as Jake Williams led the charge with a 4-for-5 performance, including four RBIs.
-Colton Shaw turned in 6.0 solid innings for the visitors allowing three runs on six hits while striking out eight Royals.

NEXT UP
Queens and Yale will continue the series on Saturday, February 22^nd with the first pitch scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at the Richard "Stick" Williams Dream Fields. Admission is free.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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