Another late-inning rally gave the Pride a spark on Sunday, April 17th, beating the University of Delaware in 10 innings by a score of 6-5. Red-hot catcher Kevin Bruggeman played the role of hero, hitting Hofstra’s fourth walk-off win of the season that gave the Pride the 2-1 series win over the Blue Hens at University Field this weekend.
“I think we showed them that we fight all the way through to the end,” said Hofstra head coach Frank Catalanotto. “Brad Camarda threw a good game. He didn’t have his best stuff, but he gave us a chance to win. But what we’ve been doing all year is coming back late in games, and that’s what we did today. And we really needed this series.”
Hofstra is now 15-15 overall this season, with a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) record of 7-5. Delaware drops down to 20-13 overall with a 6-5 CAA record.
Michael O’Hanlon, who pitched three solid innings in relief, secured his second win of the season. Zach Klapak was credited with the loss after giving up the tying run in the eighth and the winning run in the tenth, giving him his first loss of the season.
Delaware struck early, scoring two in the top of the first inning. With the bases loaded on Brad Camarda, Joey Loynd hit a 2-2 pitch for a single, scoring two unearned runs after a fielding error by Jake Liberatore.
Bruggeman got the Pride on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning when he reached on a fielders’ choice that brought in Will Kennedy, who was returning after a foot injury that kept him off the field for over a month. This made the game 2-1 Delaware.
The Blue Hens made it a 3-1 game in the top of the sixth, with an RBI double by Nick Vera. They added on with two-run double by Joseph Carpenter in the seventh, but that ended up being all the damage Delaware could do.
Despite his shaky start, Brad Camarda had a very solid day on the mound, recording his 100th strikeout as a member of the Pride. He struck out four while leaving five runners on base in 6.1 innings of work.
“He’s consistent. He goes out there, and he throws strikes, and that’s what we’re looking for,” Catalanotto said. “Congratulations to him, because that’s pretty awesome. He’s the guy on Sunday that we’re happy to give him the ball, because he’s going to give us a chance to win.”
The offensive outburst for Hofstra came in the bottom of the seventh. It started off with a sacrifice fly by Santino Rosso that brought Bruggeman in to score. Ryan Morash followed that up with a single that scored Liberatore. Kennedy made it a one-run game with a single of his own. Anthony D’Onofrio scored the tying run on a wild pitch by reliever Zach Klapak.
O’Hanlon came in for Aljo Sujak and provided three fantastic innings of relief, striking out three, and not giving up a run.
“He’s a bulldog, he always goes out there and goes at any hitter in the box, no matter who it is,” Bruggeman said. “He feels he’s better, and it’s easy to catch him when he’s like that because you don’t have to build him up. He’s a competitor.”
With two outs in the bottom of the tenth and runners on second and third, Bruggeman hit a chopper to short that the Delaware shortstop JJ Freeman hesitated on throwing. Bruggeman beat it out for an infield single, scoring Kennedy.
“That pitcher was tough. He had a really good breaking ball,” Bruggeman said. “I didn’t hit it super well but hit it, and I knew I had a shot at beating it out. Luckily the shortstop bobbled it a bit, but great celebration with my teammates. Big series win.”
The Pride begins an eight-game stretch during which they won’t play at University Field again until May 3. They return to action on Tuesday, April 19, when they travel to Connecticut to play the Stags of Fairfield University. The game begins at 3:30 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Jon Reiss/Hofstra Athletics
