The Hofstra University baseball team’s season came to an end on Friday, May 24, against the College of William and Mary Tribe, 16-6 at the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Championships.
After a brutal loss to the number one-seeded College of Charleston on Thursday, May 23, the Pride turned the page quickly in a double-elimination tournament to play against William and Mary the next day at 11 a.m.
Hofstra sent out Tanner Sanderoff to attempt to save the team from elimination. Sanderoff did not last the first inning as he surrendered three runs off two hits in 0.1 innings pitched. The Tribe punctured the ball, tallying 12 hits throughout the game.
The same fate went for the Tribe with their starting pitcher Owen Pierce lasting just a couple more innings than Sanderoff but gave up three runs off three hits in the first to make the game tied at three after one. William and Mary’s pitching only allowed Hofstra nine outs throughout the game.
Still tied at three heading into the fourth, Hofstra broke the tie with a bases-loaded wild pitch sending Michael Florides hom, making it a 4-3 game.
In the bottom half, however, things turned for the worse for Hofstra and their season. The Tribe was able to score five runs with two RBI singles from Anthony Greco and mistakes on the field pushed William and Mary forward 9-4.
In the sixth and eighth innings, Hofstra tried to put momentum on their side with a Will Kennedy RBI single and Santino Rosso sacrifice fly to put two runs on the board. The Tribe continued to play their game putting the nail in the Pride’s season by taking a 15-5 lead after a Trey Christman three-run bomb.
William and Mary put the cherry on top with Henry Jackson scoring on a wild pitch in the eighth as the Tribe closed out the game at 16-6.
Kennedy and Steve Harrington both went 2-4 from the plate with Harrington leading the team in RBIs with two. Multiple other players had one-hit games such as Dylan Palmer, Alex McCoy and Rosso.
This ended up being the last game of the season for the Pride after making the CAA Championships for the second time in three years under head coach Frank Catalanotto. Overall, Hofstra ended the season with a 24-33 record.
Now the offseason begins for the Hofstra Pride baseball team as they try to bring another CAA Championship back to Hempstead with the new season in 2025.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Joy Shaver
