The Hofstra University baseball team secured a series win in their last series of the regular season on Friday, May 15, taking an 8-1 road victory over Stony Brook University.
With the victory, the Pride improved to 20-26 overall and 14-15 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play, claiming the third spot in the CAA North Division. The Seawolves fell to 20-30 on the season and 12-17 overall, holding the fourth spot in the CAA North Division.
With the 2026 season coming to a close, the Pride were not out of the playoff race, competing with Stony Brook and CAA South member College of Charleston for the two at-large bids in this year’s conference tournament. While the Pride could not claim one of the two top spots in the CAA North since they had already been taken by Northeastern University and Monmouth University, their final Ratings Performance Index (RPI) ranking kept them alive. After their win against Stony Brook, Hofstra improved to an RPI of 152, while Stony Brook and Charleston had RPIs of 159 and 167, respectively.
Hofstra showed efficient pitching on the mound. Between starter Sean Hamilton and sole-reliever Jackson Bauer, the pitching duo only gave up five hits and struck out a total of six batters.
The only run given up by a Pride pitcher came with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. After Hamilton left the game with runners on first and second base, Bauer gave up an RBI single to his first batter, James Schaffer, clearing the run deficit created after Gabriel Melara hit his sixth homer as a member of the Pride at the top of the first. The inning ended when Bauer dealt his first of four strikeouts.
The Pride’s offense dominated the rest of the game, reclaiming the lead at the top of the seventh after two scoreless frames for both teams. Melara earned his second RBI of the game to give the Pride the lead after hitting a single to send CJ Griggs home.
The offense truly exploded in the following inning when Hofstra put together a five-run eighth inning. With one out and runners on the corners, Michael Brown extended the lead to two runs on an RBI double to send Tyler Castrataro home. Griggs joined baserunner Michael Craig on the basepath after being intentionally walked. Then, Melara tacked on two more RBIs on a two-run double to clear the basepath. Nick Gallello took first base after getting hit, and a fielder’s choice and throwing error from shortstop Mike Villani once again cleared the basepath.
Brown recorded another RBI at the top of the ninth, hitting his second triple of the season to send Craig home.
The Pride played their season finale on Saturday, May 16. First pitch was set for 1 p.m.
