After three weeks since the start of the 2025 season, the Hofstra University baseball team returned home to officially play their home opener at University Field on Tuesday, March 4. The game was an 11-7 victory over Marist University.
“After that first inning, I thought we played really well,” said Hofstra head coach Frank Catalanotto. “We had some big at-bats, guys driving in runs, a big home run by [Tyler] Castrataro [and] a big double by [CJ] Griggs – these young guys are stepping up.”
Chris Bedford, a freshman from Staten Island, New York, made his collegiate debut pitching against the Red Foxes, but only recorded one out on the mound. Bedford gave up a leadoff double to AJ Brotz, then walked Lewis Rodriguez, Zach Donahue and Jason Claiborn to walk in the first run of the game. Nathan Lincoln reached first base on a fielder’s choice to drive in Rodriguez, then Brady Steinert drove in Donahue to end Bedford’s short stint as the Pride’s slated starting pitcher.
Bedford ended his first appearance for Hofstra with three runs on two hits and three walks.
Coming in from the Pride’s bullpen was Jackson Bauer, who last took the mound for Hofstra on Saturday, March 1. Bauer pitched 3.2 innings and gave up only two runs on four hits, an RBI double to left center by Steinert in the top of the third and a solo home run by Kyle Pollack in the top of the fourth.
Despite early pitching struggles from Hofstra arms, and after giving up five runs in the first four innings, the Pride’s offense began to explode. Tyler Cox hit his second home run of his Pride career in the bottom of the first, eliminating the idea of a Red Foxes shutout.
Trent Jenks, who started the game in left field but saw time on Hofstra’s mound, earned his first career save. Jenks hit a sacrifice fly to Rodriguez in center field to drive in Michael Brown for a 4-2 score in the bottom of the fourth. Griggs added to the Pride’s response, driving in both Dylan Palmer and Cox for the first two of his three RBIs against Marist.
“The thing about [Jenks] is that he’s not scared,” Catalanotto said on the freshman’s first two-way game. “He wants to be on the field. He doesn’t care how big the moment is. He’s had some good at-bats in the past … but on the mound he’s been lights-out.”
Griggs’s final RBI tied up the game in the bottom of the fifth. Griggs hit a one-out single up the first base line to score Cox again and tie up the game 5-5.
The Pride scored a trio of runs the next inning. Luke Masiuk, who reached first base on a fielding error from Donahue playing shortstop, stole second base, then came home on an RBI single from Sean Lane. Several batters later, Palmer hit a sacrifice fly to right fielder Chris Diaz to drive in Lane. Then, Castrataro hit his second homer as a member of the Pride, extending Hofstra’s lead to 8-5.
After winning pitcher, Grady Lacourciere gave up a two-run homer to Steinert in the top of the seventh. Hofstra scored three more runs in the bottom of the eighth: RBI singles from Brown and Palmer, followed by Palmer stealing home on a throwing error from Logan Scholl.
“[Lacourciere] has been outstanding this year,” Catalanotto said. “I really like what he does. He gets a lot of strikeouts, he’s always ready to pitch and we needed it. When you go down like that early you need guys to come in and slow the game down a little bit.”
The Pride host their first three-game series at University Field this season when they take on the University of Albany from Friday, March 7, to Sunday, March 9. First pitch of game one against the Great Danes is set for 2 p.m.
