By David Gibb
The Hofstra Pride Baseball Team, owners of only two CAA wins thus far this year, traveled to Fairfax, VA over the weekend to take on the conference rival Patriots of George Mason University in a three-game series. Unfortunately for the Pride, George Mason entered the series leading the CAA with an 11-4 conference record and an even more impressive 34-8 overall mark. Any potential win for Hofstra in the series would be a massive upset, considering the Patriots’ remarkable 22-1 record at home as well as the Pride’s 1-18 road record.
The series opener on Friday afternoon belonged to George Mason, who both out-pitched and out-hit the Pride, demonstrating why the Patriots are the top dogs in the Colonial Athletic Association. Patriot starter Kevin Crum pitched seven strong innings, giving up only two runs (one earned) while scattering six hits and one walk, striking out seven. Crum was clearly in control on the mound, not allowing Mason’s balky defense to faze him, as he pitched well despite their three fielding errors.
Crum was supported largely by the man who batted for him, designated hitter Shane Davis, who went 3-for-4 with three RBI in the game. Davis clubbed a two-run homer off Pride starter Rob Kumbatovic in the second inning after Patriot third baseman Mark Hill reached on an error by his opposite number, Hofstra third sacker Matt Prokopowicz. Davis would again trouble Kumbatovic in the fifth inning, singling with two outs in the fifth inning to drive in the sixth and final run of the Pride pitcher’s 89-pitch outing.
With Crum rolling and Davis swinging, the Pride were effectively shut down, managing only seven hits with Mark Stuckless as the only Hofstra player to register multiple knocks in the game. The Pride tried to make the best of the base runners they did get, attempting three steals, but each time GMU catcher Chris Henderson gunned them down. With seemingly little working for them in the game, Hofstra ultimately fell 7-2.
Saturday’s game opened with cause for optimism despite Friday’s defeat for Hofstra, with the speedy Pride offense turning a leadoff single by Mark Stuckless, a bunt single by Tom Legregni, and a throwing error into an early 1-0 lead. The team had a chance to add to the lead with only one out, but left the bases loaded following two strikeouts.
The failure to pile on proved important, as the Pride would not manage another hit until the fifth inning. By then, George Mason had a 7-1 lead on the strength of a second inning rally that saw the Patriots use the base paths of Spuhler Field in Fairfax as a merry-go-round. In that fateful second, Mason loaded the bases rather effortlessly by way of two consecutive walks to start the inning and a bunt on which no out was made. The Patriots proceeded to burn starter Brody Fontaine and the Hofstra defense for their shaky start to the inning, turning the free base runners into 4 runs on only three hits.
Meanwhile, Patriot southpaw Mike Modica was dominating Pride batters, setting down 10 in a row, a streak which was ended when freshman catcher Gianni Masci reached first on a wild pitch after striking out in the fifth. Masci, who only has about 20 at bats on the year, made the most of his opportunity in the fifth, reaching on the wild pitch before moving to second on an errant throw by Patriot backstop Chris Henderson. This set up a two run home run by leadoff man extraordinaire Mark Stuckless, the one Pride player to thrive in the first two games of the series, hitting .500 (4-for-8) with 2 RBI while the rest of the team managed a total of 7 hits and 2 RBI collectively.
Despite his critical error for the Patriots in the fifth inning, Henderson assuredly slept well Saturday night after going 4-for-5 with two runs batted in and a run scored. In fact, Henderson was named co-winner of the CAA Player of the Week award following the series, in which he hit a combined .733 (11-for-15) with 5 RBI and 5 runs scored. Henderson’s prowess as a game caller was also demonstrated Saturday afternoon as he guided Mike Modica to a complete game four-hitter with eight strikeouts.
Between the two of them, GMU’s battery proved too much for the Pride in game two, rolling over the Pride to a final score of 10-2.
Despite the fact that the series was already lost, Hofstra had a lot to play for on Sunday in terms of pride (no pun intended). In a season of so many positives and so few victories, the Pride team dug deep to play an exciting, close game against the Patriots, the mightiest team in their conference, in the 90-degree Virginia heat.
As in so many of their games, Coach Patrick Anderson’s team used well-timed singles and aggressive base running to establish an early lead. With one out in the first, second baseman Tom Legregni singled up the middle before stealing his team-leading 15th base of the year. Matt Prokopowicz, tops on the team in RBIs, drove him in with a single up the middle to give Hofstra a 1-0 lead.
Mason’s offense quickly erased the deficit, but found it difficult to chase Pride starter Kevin Rigopoulos from the game. Rigopoulos gave up three runs in five innings of work, but pitched effectively, never allowing the Patriots any sustained scoring rallies against him, as they could only scratch out individual runs in three different innings. GMU’s Kris Mengle opposed Rigopoulos, edging him slightly by giving up only two runs in 5.1 innings.
With both starters out of the game early in the sixth, the Pride appeared to be in good shape despite the one-run deficit, especially considering the pedigree of their opponent. The Patriots attempted to break the game open in the bottom of the sixth inning, though, scoring three runs. Hofstra refused to roll over, however, answering back with three in the eighth to cut the Mason lead to 6-5. Adam Perlo singled with the bases loaded to drive in two of the runs, and Mark Stuckless had a sacrifice fly to bring his team within one.
Regrettably for Hofstra, after an extremely competitive game, the mighty Patriots found the energy to step on the throats of the basement-dwelling Pride in the bottom of the eighth. George Mason scored three more runs, two of which came on a booming home run by Patriot left fielder Scott Krieger en route to a 9-5 win to seal the three-game CAA sweep.
Despite the three losses, the weekend in Fairfax displayed a great deal of the Pride’s upside, especially the speed and hitting ability of the top part of their lineup. Hofstra played one of their best games of the year to close out the series, despite the fact that they were facing the absolute cream of the Colonial Athletic Association crop.