The Hofstra University baseball team lost the series to the University at Albany in the second game of a three-game series in a tight 10-8 ballgame. The Pride now fall to 4-9 on the season.
The Great Danes finished with 12 hits and one error on the day, while the Pride had 11 hits and one error.
Luke Masiuk and freshman Tyler Castrataro each notched three-hit games for the Pride. Luke Myers recorded a two RBI day for Albany.
Hofstra pitching struggled as they allowed nine earned runs and dealt a total of eight walks on the day.
“Today we got outplayed,” said Hofstra head coach Frank Catalanotto. “Our pitching wasn’t very good today. We had a tough time throwing strikes, walked too many batters and, when you do that and allow too many runners on base, you give up runs.”
Branden Brown started on the mound for the Pride, pitching a clean first inning, but the wheels fell off in the second as he allowed four walks and two runs.
The Pride answered with two runs of their own as Sean Lane started the rally with a double and Trenton Snyder got on base with a walk. Micheal Brown was able to knock in two runs with a single to right field.
Branden Brown got into more trouble in the third and left Tanner Sanderoff to deal with his two runners in the third. Sanderoff was able to get out of the inning but allowed the two Branden Brown runs to score.
The Great Danes made a pitching change in the fourth inning as starting pitcher Mark Gajowski found himself in hot water early. Tyler Kneller took the mound for Albany and played the role as the long man out of the bullpen, pitching four innings.
Hofstra’s offense started to heat up in the fourth, starting with three hits in a row. A double from Castrataro, a single from Tyler Cox and RBI double from Masiuk got the scoring started.
“I noticed it a few days ago that even in practice, [Masiuk] looked like he was swinging the bat better,” Catalanatto said. “It’s huge for the team because he’s going to be in the middle of the lineup, and we need him to get hot.”
Snyder brought in three more runs for the Pride on a triple to right field.
The pitching from both sides shut down the offense through the middle innings but Albany broke out in the sixth, tying the game at six a piece on a strand of singles.
Trent Jenks, the two-way freshman, took the mound for the Pride in the seventh lasted 2.2 innings, allowing 2 earned runs.
Albany posted two in the seventh and Hofstra followed suit, as the Pride got creative on the basepaths. Pinch runner Jack Fanning got stuck in a rundown allowing Masiuk to steal home and tie the game.
The Great Danes recorded a run in each of the final two frames, on soft contact.
The Pride were not able to answer as pitcher Alex Enea shut down the Hofstra offense.
Hofstra looked to avoid the sweep on Sunday, March 9, at University Field. First pitch was scheduled for 12 p.m.
