By Danny Powell
Though the Long Island weather has finally warmed up to temperatures suitable for baseball, however, the Pride’s bats have been sent back to the Ice Age this week. After taking two of three from Colonial Athletic Association rival Delaware, Hofstra was stymied by the pitching of Seton Hall University and Columbia University on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
The Pride looked strong in Delaware over the weekend. Despite dropping the series opener 8-4, Hofstra bounced back and outscored the Blue Hens 21-12 in the final two games of the set. That brought the Pride’s conference record to 4-5 and the team looked poised to go on a tear after finally bringing together good hitting with good pitching.
However, Hofstra apparently left all their hits on the field in Delaware as the Pride struggled mightily in a pitcher’s duel with Seton Hall. Hofstra took an early lead with a RBI single from junior Anthony Sarno in the first inning, but that would do it for the Pride’s offense. Pirates pitcher Keith Cantwell threw a complete game and yielded just six hits and the lone run to the Pride. Though Sarno was also strong on the mound in seven innings of work, he surrendered the tying run in the fourth and ultimately gave up the winning run in the top of the seventh as Seton Hall went on to a 3-1 victory.
The Pride returned to University Field on Wednesday, looking for redemption against a Columbia team that had routed 24-1 the day before by St. John’s University. The Pride was in trouble early, however, as senior pitcher Ryan Dunn gave up two runs in the top of the first.
After the Pride responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the first, scoring stalled until the Lions broke out in the top of the fifth. Dunn struggled, giving up four hits that led to three runs that ultimately proved to be the difference in the game. The Pride did manage to push across two more runs to bring the score to 5-3. That is where it would stay, however, as Columbia first baseman Rob Williams snuffed out a ninth inning rally with two brilliant defensive plays. After making a pretty stop on a ground ball behind first base, Williams made a terrific leaping catch to rob right fielder Dave Cole of a base hit to help seal the victory.
After the game, Pride head coach Chris Dotolo was clearly disappointed in his team’s performance during the mid-week games.
“Apparently we just completely forgot to hit these last two games,” Dotolo said. “We weren’t hitting any of the pitches we were hitting in Delaware. We have to be more aggressive and we have to do a better job.”
The Pride will have another chance to turn things around when they head to Maryland to take on conference rival Towson in a three game set. Dotolo made it clear he is looking for a strong performance from his team as the team tries to get over .500 in the conference.
“I’m expecting three wins this weekend,” Dotolo said of the upcoming series with the Tigers. “We need to have those games.”
Freshman third baseman Matt Prokopowicz, who has been the Pride’s best hitter thus far, seemed confident that the team will snap out of the funk.
“We’ll turn it around,” Prokopowicz said after Wednesday’s game. “We just have to take some extra swings and we’ll get it fixed.”
The Pride is now 9-14 on the season. Their series with Towson will open with a 2:30 game on Friday afternoon.