By Dave Diamond
They may be 99 percent eliminated from playoff contention, but 99 is not 100. For the Hofstra baseball team, that’s good enough to keep hope alive heading into its final CAA series against Towson beginning Friday.
After all, it was only a year ago that the season outcome seemed bleak for the Pride when it went into the final weekend of the regular season. A series sweep later with huge performances out of the bullpen by closer Jeff Denlea-plus a house of cards falling the right way-and Hofstra grabbed its first CAA tournament appearance in the program’s history. They did it with determination, sure, but they also needed an incredible amount of luck, and lady luck needs to make a valiant return if this year’s team plans to reach the postseason again.
“We needed to watch a few teams such as James Madison to see how they did in order to get to the conference tournament [last year],” junior pitcher Ryan Dunn said. “The only difference this year is that we are a few more games behind than last year, and that could affect us getting in.”
The Pride is hanging on for now, albeit barely. It currently has four more losses and one less win than Delaware, who currently has the grasp on the sixth and final playoff spot. If that is not enough, George Mason and Georgia State also sit ahead of Hofstra in the standings, making this task seemingly impossible.
Obviously the mission is obtainable, or else there would be no point in discussing it. Keep in mind that all three of the teams that can eliminate the Pride this weekend still have a few games to go next week, and another interesting side note is that Hofstra holds no tiebreakers against all of the teams it is chasing. Therefore, even at the risk of sounding totally outrageous, here is what needs to happen for the Pride to make the playoffs:
•The lone ray of light shining on the Pride at the moment is its weekend opponent, the 4-20 Towson Tigers. The Tigers are dead last in the CAA, and the whole scenario hinges upon the Hofstra sweeping Towson, an abysmal 5-21 overall road team. Bottom-line: Hofstra could not ask for a better match-up.
•While it would seem Delaware is the main hurdle, it turns out that George Mason controls the Pride’s fate the most. The Patriots have 12 wins, meaning one more and Hofstra’s season is over. Mason has three games remaining, a series with formidable opponent Northeastern. With one Mason victory, Hofstra will be eliminated from contention.
•Delaware has three games with Georgia State this weekend, which helps the Pride as long as nobody sweeps. For Hofstra, Delaware has one game to work with, because if the Blue Hens win two of their final six, the Pride is eliminated. The best-case scenario would be for Delaware to take a game against Georgia State, then get swept by Virginia Commonwealth, which is not entirely out of the question.
•However, should Delaware take a game against GSU, then Hofstra is in a jam. That would mean 10th place William & Mary would need to go on the road and sweep Georgia State. Should all this happen (and crazier things have), Hofstra will be the final team in the CAA tournament.
“No one is really talking about it [the tournament] because we’re playing it by ear,” freshman Nick Panzarella said. “We want to think that we still have a chance.”
