By PJ Potter- ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
The Hofstra baseball team dropped their season opener 5-2 against No. 4 Texas A&M Friday night at Blue Bell Park.
Senior Boomer White lofted his first home run of the season in the bottom half of the 1st inning over the left field wall to put the Aggies up 1-0.
However, the Pride answered back in the 2nd inning with four hits. Ryan Karl and Vito Friscia hit back-to-back singles, which marks their first hits as members of the Hofstra Pride.
Two batters later, designated hitter Nick Bottari stepped in the batter’s box for the first time in a Hofstra uniform. In the second pitch of the at-bat, Bottari roped a base hit down the left field line scoring Karl.
Hofstra then took the lead in the 3rd inning. Following a David Leiderman double, who went 2-for-4, Preseason All-CAA selection Steven Foster slapped a single into left field to take a 2-1 lead.
The Aggies then would go on to score one run in the next four innings off of two different pitchers. Ryne Birk notched two RBI in the 3rd and 5th innings, respectively, both on sacrifice flies to center field. Walker Pennington also added a run batted in with a sacrifice fly in the 4th inning.
Catcher Michael Barash rounded out the game with an RBI single hit back up the middle.
Hofstra starter Alec Eisenberg received the loss, allowing three runs (two earned) and four hits in his four inning outing. Eisenberg fanned one batter and walked none as the Pride’s opening day starter. John Rooney came in relief first for the Pride, yielding two runs over a two inning span in his college debut.
Brendan Mulligan and Dave Jesch tossed one shutout inning each. Jesch, who missed the 2015 season due to Tommy John surgery, had two strikeouts.
Nebraska native Kyle Simonds picked up the win for Texas A&M. Simonds logged five innings and struck out three, surrendering seven hits and two runs.
Brigham Hill replaced Simonds for 2.1 innings and did not allow any runs. Preseason All-American Ryan Hendrix recorded the save for the Aggies.
Hofstra outhit Texas A&M 10-7, the program’s most hits on opening day since 2011. Ryan Karl and Brad Witkowski each went 2-for-4. Witkowski has reached base in nine straight games dating back to last season.
For Texas A&M, Boomer White and J.B. Moss also muscled two hits. Moss, the nine hitter for the Aggies, sprinted for two triples and two runs.
This was the first time Hofstra and Texas A&M squared off on the diamond.
Game 2 of the series starts tomorrow at 3 p.m.
