The Hofstra University baseball team secured another series win, shutting out Towson University 8-0 on Sunday, May 3. Due to turf issues on the mound, the game lasted only five innings. One game after an unsuccessful comeback, this brief victory was a palate cleanser for the Pride and showed a different approach by the team.
“I thought the guys were a little more patient [today],” said Hofstra head coach Frank Catalanotto. “We walked a bunch, and we were swinging at strikes. Yesterday, I felt they were swinging at balls. Much better approach – if we can stay in that approach, I think we’re going to continue to have success offensively.”
With the win, Hofstra improved to 17-24 on the season and 11-13 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play. Towson fell to 18-27 overall and 6-18 in conference play. The Pride and the Tigers hold the fourth and fifth spots of the CAA North division standings, respectively.
Nick Reese pitched his second complete game of the season. He gave the Pride their first complete-game victory on April 26, a seven-inning mercy-rule victory over Northeastern University. In his five-inning appearance against Towson, Reese allowed only three hits, walked one batter and struck out two hitters.
“[Reese] has been great,” Catalanotto said. “The first inning, he looked a little dicey there, and he pitched out of it. And then, it’s nothing spectacular; it’s throwing strikes. He’s not walking batters; he’s letting [hitters] put the ball in play, and he’s hitting his spots.”
Hofstra attacked early in the game, putting up the first of two multi-run innings in the bottom of the first. With no outs, Towson starter Liam Diehl gave up singles to Michael Brown and CJ Griggs and dealt a walk to Tyler Cox before Nick Gallello sent Brown home on a fielder’s choice. After that, Gabriel Melara grounded out to plate Griggs. Then, Michael Craig reached first base on the first of the Tigers’ two errors, and Cox came in as an unearned run.
Nick Biddle contributed to a second run in the bottom of the third, earning his lone RBI of the game on a single that drove in Melara from second base.
The Pride doubled their lead in the bottom of the fourth thanks to Tigers relief pitcher Joey Tuttoilmondo. After Diehl placed runners on first and second base, Tuttoilmondo struck out his first batter but gave up a two-run double to Gallello. Melara extended the inning by getting hit by pitch and stealing second base, setting up Craig to hit his own two-run double.
Mound issues prevailed as the game continued. Pitchers from both teams were affected by loose patches of turf on the mound. While the game was declared complete after the top of the fourth, play continued for one more batter. Sam Leonard got the last at-bat of the game, bunting to the pitcher’s mound. After Tuttoilmondo tripped on a patch toward the front of the mound, an attempt to repair some turf was made before the game was ultimately terminated.
“We thought we were going to be able to fix [the mound] and have it not be dangerous for the pitchers,” Catalanotto said. “So, they put some turf underneath and some pellets, and we thought it would be good. And [Towson head coach Matt Tyner and I] both said, ‘Hey, we’ve got to make sure that the health of the pitchers is the biggest concern,’ and we saw on the bunt, when the guy went to field it, he kind of got caught in the turf. And then that’s when the umpires and both head coaches determined that it’s probably not safe to continue because we don’t want guys to get hurt.”
The Pride will travel to the University of New Haven on Wednesday, May 6. Then, they will play their penultimate CAA series – and their final CAA home series – of the season against Monmouth University starting on Friday, May 8.
