To open their final Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) home series on Saturday, May 10, the Hofstra University baseball team secured its first in-conference series win since late March. There, they swept Towson University in a doubleheader 12-7 and 5-3.
After snapping their five-game losing streak, the Pride improved to 17-34 overall with a 7-17 record in CAA play. The Tigers fall to 19-35 overall with a 9-14 in-conference record and are currently on a three-game losing streak.
Tristan Nemjo and Sean Hamilton, pitchers who have otherwise struggled throughout the season, earned their second and first wins of the season, respectively. Nemjo successfully stunned Towson batters for 6.1 innings in game one, allowing only four runs on five hits but surpassing the 100-strikeout mark with a season-best eight strikeouts. Hamilton pitched a quality start in game two, also going for 6.1 innings but only giving up three runs over eight hits and striking out seven batters.
“[A doubleheader sweep] was very refreshing,” said Hofstra head coach Frank Catalanotto. “It seems like we’ve had a tough time stringing scoreless innings together; we got a few today. I feel like when we pitch well, we have a good chance to win the game. It was nice that we got the two good starting pitching performances from [Nemjo and Hamilton] today.”
After Hofstra put together a 1-2-3 inning for Towson batters, including Nemjo’s first strikeout, the Pride batted into a seven-run first inning, preventing Tigers starter Andrew Luczak from recording an out. With bases loaded, Tyler Castrataro hit a single up the infield gap to send Dylan Palmer and Michael Brown home. Then Luczak loaded the bases again after hitting Michael Craig.
Matt Lynch, who replaced a struggling Luczak, saw Trent Jenks as his batter. Jenks doubled up the first-base line to score Castrataro and Luke Masiuk, then Nick Gallello drove in Jenks and Craig on his own two-run hit. The first-inning scoring ended when Palmer hit into a fielder’s choice to drive in Gallello.
Castrataro, Craig, Jenks and Gallello were four of six freshmen in the Pride’s starting lineup for game one, joined by Nick Biddle and a struggling Jake Harring as the designated hitter. Sean Lane filled in for Harring in the nightcap of the day.
“I think it’s important for [the freshmen] to get reps late in the season,” Catalanotto said. “As we know, we’re out of playoff contention and I like what I saw out of the freshmen today because there was a lot of production from them.”
Scoring remained mild after the explosive first inning from the Pride, who almost won game one via mercy rule. But with reliever Grady Lacourciere giving up a grand slam to slim down the lead to four runs, a full nine-inning game would have to be played. Hofstra scored one last time in the opener in the eighth inning, when Brown sent Palmer home on a single-turned-fielding error.
Game two saw fewer runs scored but more home runs hit. Castrataro drove in the Pride’s first runs of the second game on a two-run home run in the first inning with Brown on the basepath. Two innings later, Gallello drove Jenks home on a sacrifice fly.
Hamilton showed minimal signs of struggling, a good sign for a pitcher in their post-surgery season, after driving in Casey Bishop on a single to Brian Heckelman in the third inning, one of three hits of the inning.
Palmer recovered from a midseason slump, hitting his first home run of the year to stretch the Pride’s lead in the fourth inning and scoring his second run of the game on a passed ball. Palmer went 6-9 on the day with three RBIs and five runs scored.
“[Palmer] put some hits together last week and the whole week,” Catalanotto said. “I knew he was going to have a good weekend; he’s just been confident. He’s been the fun-loving Dylan again.”
The Pride conclude their series by honoring the team’s seniors, including Nemjo and Masiuk, with a Mother’s Day finale on Sunday, May 11. A pregame ceremony was slated for 11:30 a.m. The first pitch was set for noon at University Field.
