A heated altercation between teams set the scene for a rowdy 7-5 win for the Campbell University Fighting Camels over the Hofstra University baseball team on Saturday, April 20.
“Disappointing game,” said Hofstra head coach Frank Catalanotto. “I thought we came out of the shoot really good. We did leave some runners out on base, our base running the last few games [hasn’t] been good. I feel like we could’ve scored a lot more runs, and then to lose Carlos [Martinez] after two innings was rough.”
After Hofstra’s come-from-behind win in game one, the Camels and the Pride came out the gate barking at each other from their respective dugouts.
The Pride kept the momentum going from the day before with a Santino Rosso single in the first and back-to-back singles from Dylan Palmer and Luke Masiuk, favoring the Pride with a 3-0 lead by the second inning.
In the third, Charlie Meglio stamped a solo home run to put the Camels on the board, 3-1. As Meglio came across home, he stood on the plate a little too long, much to the chagrin of the Hofstra bench. Both benches began to chirp at each other, resulting in warnings being given out to both benches. On the very next pitch, Martinez threw high and inside, resulting in his ejection from the game.
“He’s been pitching well, and today he had his good stuff,” Catalanotto said. “It was a little unfair for him to get thrown out. Obviously I’m never going to have one of my guys throw at a guy, that’s just not the way I am, especially in the head area. It’s unfortunate that we lost him in this game and [that it] now affects tomorrow as well, having to throw in a whole bunch of guys we won’t be able to use.”
Coming out early with a steady hand on the game, Martinez finished his premature outing with four strikeouts, allowing one hit and one run with 2.0 innings pitched.
Having to use the bullpen early on, the Camels took advantage of the opportunity with a Dalen Thompson home run in the fourth followed by a Chandler Riley walk that tied the game at three. Lawson Harrill then doubled to take over the lead in a 5-3 game.
Although the bullpen needed to come out in a tough situation, Ryan McLaughlin and Joseph Curreri held down the mound for the Pride.
“They gave us some innings,” Catalanotto said. “We needed them to eat up some innings. We saw some good things and some bad things. McLauglin had some good innings where his stuff was really working. These guys are going to be counted on.”
Hofstra continued to fight in the sixth with Alex McCoy sailing a home run, followed by a Michael Florides fielder’s choice to second to come back and tying the game at five.
Campbell continued to claw at Hofstra’s bullpen, putting men on base and having Reed Stallman put a runner across with a sacrifice fly into left field, taking the lead back 6-5. The Camels put the cherry on top with a Dylan Koontz solo home run, ending the game 7-5 over the Pride.
Hofstra rallied together more hits in this game with 10 while Campbell only gathered six. But the Fighting Camels were able to capitalize on their hits, scoring seven runs.
For the Camels, Jeremy Wiegman received the win in his 2.0 innings with two strikeouts and allowing no runs. Packy Bradley-Cooney nailed down the save for Campbell, pitching 2.0 innings with four strikeouts.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Rob Cuni
