After splitting the Saturday doubleheader, Hofstra baseball’s Vinnie Costello hit a walk-off solo home run in the ninth inning to beat the Elon Phoenix 5-4 in the rubber match. The win gave the Pride its first conference series win this season.
Friscia got the scoring started on Sunday afternoon with a sacrifice fly in the first inning, scoring Steven Foster. Later in the inning, Brad Witkowski reached on a fielding error which allowed Tom Archer to score.
Elon broke up Hofstra’s shutout in the top of the fifth inning with an RBI walk by Zach Evers. The next at-bat, Joe Satterfield hit into an RBI fielder’s choice, tying the game at two.
Hofstra responded in the sixth thanks to a Rob Weissheier sacrifice fly in foul territory that scored Brad Witkoski.
Elon took a 4-3 lead in the seventh on RBI singles by Zach Evers and Ryne Ogren, but Hofstra answered right back in the bottom half with a sacrifice fly by Tom Archer, scoring Costello and tying the game at four.
The score remained tied at four until Costello led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk-off solo home run to win it 5-4.
In addition to the game-winning home run, Costello was the only Hofstra player with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 in the game. Costello’s homer was his sixth of the season, putting him in a tie with Vito Friscia for the team lead.
The Pride’s Chris Weiss (5-2), who earned CAA Pitcher of the Week last week, earned the victory after pitching 2.2 scoreless innings and striking out six. Elon’s Robbie Welhaf (4-5) took his fifth loss, giving up two runs (one earned) over two innings.
Friscia extends his hitting streak to 11 games and his on-base streak to 29 games. Pride starter Matt Weissheier went four innings giving up one hit and one walk while striking out two.
Hofstra improves to 6-12 in CAA play and 13-32 overall. Elon falls to 11-10 in the CAA and 21-27 overall. With the loss, the Phoenix dropped to sixth in the conference.
Hofstra’s next game this Friday, May 12th, when they travel to Harrisonburg, Virginia to face James Madison in a three-game series. James Madison currently sits tied for last in the CAA just one game behind the Pride.
