It’s never easy to play the number one team in the conference, and the Hofstra baseball team learned that lesson the hard way Friday afternoon at Friedman Diamond in Boston, MA. The team dropped an 8-4 loss to the Colonial Athletic Association leading Northeastern Huskies, who now own a 21-17 overall record and are 10-3 in CAA play. Hofstra fell to 3-10 in conference and 10-29 for the season.
Redshirt junior Teddy Cillis earned the loss for the Pride and fell to 0-8 on the year. Cillis allowed four runs on six hits while striking out seven Huskies in four innings pitched.
Jorge Marrero came in to pitch for Cillis in the fifth inning. Marrero lasted two innings and allowed only two hits, but four runs scored (three earned).
Seamus Brazill and Chris Weiss also made appearances on the mound for the Pride, each pitching one inning without allowing any runs or hits.
Vito Friscia led the Pride by going 1-for-3 with a two-RBI single in the seventh inning. Steven Foster and Vinnie Costello both homered in the loss.
Foster started the scoring early for Hofstra with a solo homerun in the top of the first inning. The Pride would not score again until the fifth.
Northeastern answered back quickly, tying the game up at one in the bottom of the first. The Huskies scored three more unanswered runs to take a 4-1 lead heading into the fifth inning.
On the seventh pitch of his at-bat, Costello hit his own solo shot to inch the Pride closer to regaining the lead, making the score 4-2. But with four more unanswered runs by the Huskies, they took a commanding 8-2 lead over the Pride.
Hofstra gained a shimmer of hope in the seventh inning when Friscia hit a two-RBI single to bring the score to 8-4. Unfortunately, no more runs would score for the rest of the game as the Pride lose its third consecutive bout, and its fourth loss in the last five games.
The Pride will continue its weekend series against the Huskies on Saturday, April 29. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sophomore John Rooney will be on the bump for Hofstra in game two of the three-game series in Boston, as the Pride look to end their losing ways against the current top dog in the CAA.