In a doubleheader on Friday, April 7, the Hofstra Pride Baseball team went against the College of Charleston Cougars, as the Pride could not contain the offensive prowess of Charleston, losing 7-2 and 8-7 in both games.
In these two games, Hofstra continued to slip with a 10-19 record overall and a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) record of 5-9. While the Cougars, who snapped a five-game losing streak, continue to roll their way through the CAA with an 18-12 overall record and 9-5 record in CAA play.
In game one of the series, the pitching matchup was between Henry Cade of the Pride and Ty Good of Charleston.
Hofstra started the scoring in the second inning after a scoreless first inning for both teams. A Santino Rosso walk followed by a Ryan Morash single to right field put runners on the corners early on for the Pride. Good then got called on a balk, which moved Morash to second base while scoring Rosso giving Hofstra the early 1-0 lead.
In the third inning, the Pride continued to threaten after two walks and a single leaving the bases loaded for Rosso. Rosso drew another walk scoring Kevin Bruggeman in the process, with Hofstra leading 2-0. But that ended Hofstra’s scoring threat with only three hits on the rest of the day for the Pride.
Charleston, who had a sluggish start to the game, answered right back in the bottom half of the third inning. An early Rosso error and a single lined to left field put runners on first and second base with one out. That set up a huge bases-clearing triple to right field for Cole Mathis, tying the game at two apiece. Then, a JT Marr groundout to third scored Mathis to give the Cougars a 3-2 lead.
Charleston’s offense continued to add insurance with a Ben Hamacher single through to left field to score Tyler Sorrentino, taking a 4-2 advantage in the fourth inning. In the sixth, another single for the Cougars knocked Cade out of the game, finishing with five runs on eight hits and only one strikeout in 5.1 innings of work. Mark Faello came in for relief.
The Cougars topped off the seventh inning with another error on the Pride and sacrifice bunt putting Hofstra to bed in the first game 7-2. Aidan Hunter closed out the game for Charleston after coming in the seventh and finished with the save. He finished with two runs on three hits and three strikeouts with the win in 6.2 innings of work for the Cougars.
In game two, Hofstra sent out Tristan Nemjo to go up against Trey Pooser of the Cougars. Charleston wasted no time with a quick two-run blast over the left field wall for Mathis to gain a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning. Jared Kirven added another run off a double to score Luke Wood with a 3-0 lead.
In the third inning, back-to-back home runs by Trotter Harlan and Kirven added two runs for the Cougars who extended their lead to 5-0, knocking Nemjo out of the game. Nemjo finished with five runs on seven hits and one strikeout in 2.2 innings of play. In the sixth inning, with only two hits to their name so far, the Hofstra bats started to wake up.
Steve Harrington walked and back-to-back singles from Bruggeman and Rosso set up a bases-loaded threat. An error made by Cam Dean brought in Harrington, putting Hofstra on the board 5-1. The Cougars went to the bullpen bringing out William Privette to pitch for Pooser. Then, a Zach Bailey hit-by pitch scored Bruggeman to chip away in now a 5-2 game. With Brian Morrell now pinch-hitting for Sammy Burman, Morrell belted a big bases-clearing double to the left-center field wall coming all the way back and tying the game at five in the sixth inning for the Pride.
In the seventh, the Pride put runners in the corners early on leading to a Bruggeman sacrifice fly to center field to take their first lead of the game 6-5. The eighth inning saw another run come by for the Pride after a Morrell single to extend their lead 7-5. But Charleston did not go down without a fight, tying the game on a two-RBI single by Hamacher in the bottom half of the inning.
In the ninth inning, still tied at seven, with two straight walks from reliever Michael O’Hanlon, the Pride went to Mike McKenna to keep the game alive. But with only one out and the bases loaded for Charleston, a hit-by-pitch to Harlan scored the winning run for the Cougars’ 8-7 in a walk-off victory, stunning the Pride.
Jake Brink got the win with no runs and one hit allowed in 1.2 innings of relief late in the game. O’Hanlon received his first loss of the year with two runs on one hit and three walks in 1.0 innings worth of relief.
The Pride will take the day off on Saturday and will finish the series on Sunday, April 9, as Hofstra looks for at least one win in their CAA series matchup against the Cougars. The first pitch is set for noon.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Rob Cuni
