As the six seed, the Hofstra University baseball team inched their way closer to advancing in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) tournament, defeating the Northeastern University Huskies, 12-9 on Wednesday, May 22.
“It was outstanding,” said Hofstra head coach Frank Catalanotto. “That’s a good team over therel, and I have a lot of respect for [Mike Glavine] and that team. But for us, to come out like that and to put up 12 runs and 17 hits, I’m proud of my guys they fought hard. This team likes being in the big moment.”
Catcher Matt Pelcher delivered from the plate going 4-4 with three RBIs. Dylan Palmer and Alex McCoy also contributed with three hits of their own. Catalanotto emphasized how important it was for all his guys to contribute through the lineup.
“It’s key especially when we can get hits from the 7-8-9 at the bottom of the order,” Catalanotto said. “Pelcher was outstanding. I thought he did great behind the plate today and [he] had some big hits for us.”
Both teams traded blows for two innings with the game tied at two. Michael O’Hanlon was on the mound for the Pride and managed to get himself in and out of trouble multiple times in the game. Northeastern then took a 4-2 lead off a Mike Sirota single to centerfield. However, Hofstra took the lead right back with a Steve Harrington two-run shot tying the game at four. The Pride never looked back after that.
Hofstra continued to hit the ball all over the field in the fifth and sixth innings. With a 7-4 lead, Penn Sealey delivered a game-blowing opportunity with a two-run double down the left-field line with Pelcher right behind him tossing a single into right field to take a 10-5 lead.
“Sealey had a big hit, a double to left field, which I thought was huge and won’t be talked about a lot, but it was huge in the middle of the game,” Catalanotto said.
O’Hanlon started to falter in the later innings, giving up a few more runs and twice to Cam Maldonado with three RBIs with two home runs bringing the score to 10-9. He finished the game with three strikeouts, giving up seven runs on nine hits in 6.1 innings pitched.
In the eighth, Michael Florides and Pelcher delivered two more runs off singles capping the score at 12-9.
Mike McKenna came in for the two-inning save and came through with three strikeouts to advance the Pride to the next round of the CAA championship playoffs.
“I was proud of O’Hanlon for battling,” Catalanotto said. “He was laboring early but he wanted to be out there. Mckenna came in and closed the door. He was filling up the strike zone and did exactly what we needed him to do.”
With this win and a quick turnaround, the Pride faced the College of Charleston Cougars on Thursday, May 23. The first pitch was set for 3 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Joy Shaver
