A late-game rally led the Hofstra baseball team to an 11-8 victory over The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, on April 30. All nine Hofstra starters recorded at least one hit in another high scoring effort that puts the Pride into second place in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) standings.
After conceding one run in the bottom of the first, Ryan Morash responded with an RBI single to right field, scoring Kevin Bruggeman. Michael Florides followed right after with a single of his own, scoring Santino Rosso, and the Pride took the lead 2-1. After Anthony D’Onofrio walked, the bases were loaded and cleared by Will Kennedy; Kennedy launched a double into left field that scored all three baserunners and busted the game open 5-1 in favor of the Pride.
Hofstra found themselves in trouble two innings later as a walk and back-to-back singles against starter Chris Keenan loaded the bases for William & Mary. One run was scored off a fielder’s choice from Joe Delossantos and another came two batters later after a walk and wild pitch allowed Jack Kone to cross the plate, ending the day for Keenan. John Mikolaicyk replaced him and just as he thought he had pitched himself out of the jam, an error by Morash kept the inning going and gave William & Mary another run to cut the lead to 5-4.
William & Mary continued their push in the bottom of the fifth as David Hogarth cracked a double. Then, a bunt single by Cone moved Hogarth to third. The bunt proved to be a success after Delossantos hit a sacrifice fly that scored the tying run. William & Mary took the lead with a two-out single by Adam Quintero on which Cone trotted home to take the lead, 6-5.
The score remained that way until the eighth, when Hofstra sophomore Zack Bailey hit a solo shot deep over the left-field fence, tying the game at six. The scoring continued for the Pride as Morash reached on an error and back-to-back doubles from Florides and D’Onofrio gave Hofstra a two-run lead. One more run was scored off Kennedy’s third RBI of the day, a single hit to the first baseman that Kennedy just beat to the bag.
Closer Michael O’Hanlon relieved Mikolaicyk after four innings of solid work. Mikolaicyk allowed two runs on two hits with two walks and three strikeouts in his longest outing since March 6.
Following a scoreless inning from O’Hanlon, Morash provided more support with a two-run home run that went off the left-field scoreboard to extend the Pride’s lead to 11-6.
While the game looked out of reach, William & Mary made it interesting as Tyler Solomon and Max Winters hit two home runs with two outs before Phil Conti ultimately grounded out to end the game. Mikolaicyk was credited with the win and gave Hofstra its 20th win of the season, the first time the team has achieved that since 2018.
The Pride will look for the series sweep on Sunday, May 1, at 1 p.m. before finally heading home for a showdown against Iona College.
Photo Courtesy of John Reiss/Hofstra Athletics
