The Hofstra University baseball team began the month of May in the win column, defeating the Seton Hall University Pirates on the road 4-3 on Wednesday, May 1. Alex McCoy continued his season-long rampage, leading the charge with three RBIs.
The Pride is now 18-27 on the season overall while the Pirates are 21-24. Hofstra has now won the last three meetings between the two schools.
It took until the fourth inning for the scoring to begin. With two outs in the top of the frame, Luke Masiuk launched a 1-0 pitch to center field to give Hofstra the early lead. This was the fourth four-bagger of the campaign for the Trumbull native.
It didn’t take long for the visitors to double the lead, doing so in the fifth inning. Dom Camera walked with one out and advanced to third base on a single by Dylan Palmer. McCoy proceeded to bring in his first RBI of the game by slashing a 0-2 offering into center field to make the score 2-0.
McCoy eventually got both his second hit and run batted in during the seventh inning. After freshman Michael Brown walked, he advanced to third base via a sacrifice bunt and a grounder. With a man on third, McCoy shot the full count pitch to left field to bring home Brown.
The Pirates were not phased and scored twice in the bottom of the eighth. Joseph Curreri was relieved by Danny Kelleher to begin the frame. The latter seemed to be in full control, striking out the first hitter he faced and then inducing a grounder. But the smooth sailing turned into sea sickness as Kelleher walked Kevin Milewski and then hit Aiden Robbins with a pitch.
Max Viera made the Hofstra senior pay, taking the 1-0 delivery and driving it into the left field gap, scoring both Milewski and Robbins.
McCoy wasn’t willing to let Hofstra leave without a win. Camera once again got on base, this time singling a 2-2 toward right center field. After Camera advanced to second, it was McCoy who singled to the right field side to bring in his third RBI and give the Pride an insurance run.
With two outs and a man on first, Frankie Scrivanic hit a double into right field for Seton Hall, bringing home Cole Zak to make it 4-3. With a man on first, two outs and a 1-1 count, Mike McKenna got out of the jam by forcing Jonathan Luders to ground out to short.
Cade Henry got the win after striking out one hitter in three innings and only giving up a hit. Seton Hall starting pitcher Anthony Ehly got the loss, his second of the season. He struck out three Hofstra hitters in four innings of work. McKenna earned his seventh save of the season despite giving up an earned run.
The Pride has now won a season-high four straight games. With the regular season coming down to the wire, the pressure during crunch time is beginning to take shape.
The three-game series for the Battle of Long Island at Stony Brook University begins on Friday, May 3, at 2 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Joe Orovitz
