The Hofstra University baseball team took their fourth consecutive loss to conclude a winless homestand, falling 12-6 against New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) on Wednesday, April 23.
Following the non-conference loss, the Pride fell to 13-28 this season while the Highlanders improved to an even 19-19 record.
Tyler Castrataro, who has been spending plenty of time in the infield lately, made his second start on the mound and his fourth pitching appearance of his Hofstra career. In his first home start, he gave up a leadoff triple to Cole Campbell, who ran home on a double from Mason Wolf for the first run of the afternoon. Castrataro gave up two more runs in the opening frame on a two-run double from Austin Francis.
The Pride cut into their deficit in the home half of the first. Dylan Palmer led off with a base hit, followed by Michael Brown on a hit by pitch. Sean Lane brought Palmer home to get the Pride on the board. Michael Brown came home when Dom Camera hit a first-pitch single down the left field line to cut the NJIT lead to 3-2.
Castrataro gave up one more run in the top of the second inning, an RBI base hit to Campbell which drove Landon Parker in. Castrataro loaded the bases and left the game with two outs in the inning.
Hofstra answered when Michael Brown drove in Jake Harring to cut the deficit in half, bringing the score to 4-3 in favor of the Highlanders.
Branden Brown pitched 1.33 scoreless relief innings for the Pride but stumbled in the fourth when he gave up RBI singles to Francis and Jack Stead. Brayden Gregg came in the fifth inning, but NJIT continued to roll, followed by Jaden Caballero successfully stealing home. Then, with one out, Gregg gave up a two-run homer to Wolf. The Highlander explosion ended with Caballero coming back up and being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. NJIT turned a 6-3 lead into an 11-3 advantage with a five-run fifth inning.
Both of Gregg’s outs came on swinging strikeouts.
Down 12-4 in the bottom of the ninth, Harring and Trent Jenks each hit their first Hofstra home runs.
Jenks, the only Hofstra hitter with a multi-hit performance, went a perfect 2-2 coming off the Pride’s bench at the start of the seventh inning.
Castrataro took the loss after giving up four runs in 1.66 innings off five hits, two walks and a hit by pitch. NJIT’s Brandon Peterson faced four batters in 1.33 perfect innings to take the win, while Noah Pins earned his first save of the season despite giving up three runs on six hits in four innings.
The Pride returned to conference play with a three-game road series against the University of Delaware. First pitch was set for 6:30 p.m. on Friday, April 25, at Bob Hannah Stadium on Delaware’s campus.
