A late-inning rally by the Hofstra Pride on Sunday, April 10, helped the team prevail in the third and final game of the series with UNC-Wilmington (UNCW). The Pride used the final two innings to score five runs to win the game by a score of 5-2 and avoid a sweep.
Hofstra’s record is now back to .500 on the season, with a record of 13-13 overall and a 5-4 record in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play. The Seahawks of UNCW are now 18-12 overall, 3-3 in the CAA.
The red-hot play of Brad Camarda continued in this game as he was credited with his fifth win of the season. Ethan Chenault took the loss after giving up the final four runs, one of them earned, to Hofstra. Michael O’Hanlon got his third save of the season for the Pride.
Matt Suggs drove in both runs for the Seahawks. The first came in the bottom of the first inning when he hit an infield single that scored Brooks Baldwin. The second run came on a solo home run to left center. Both were earned runs given to Camarda.
The Pride waited until the top of the eighth inning to get on the board. It started off with Jake Liberatore hitting a single. After a flyout and a strikeout from Chenault, three straight Hofstra hitters were walked, forcing Liberatore to score to make it a 2-1 game. Cole Benton came in to relieve Chenault. Steve Harrington hit a comebacker on the 0-2 pitch, but Benton’s throw to first went over the head of the first baseman. All three runners on base scored for the Pride as Harrington went to second base.
The final touches for Hofstra came in the top of the ninth inning as Zack Bailey, the Northeastern University transfer, got his first RBI in a Hofstra uniform. He hit a single to right field that brought in Liberatore and made the score 5-2.
O’Hanlon sealed the deal for the Pride by getting three UNCW hitters to fly out, one to each part of the outfield.
Camarda went seven innings strong, striking out four while giving up five hits but only walking one UNCW hitter to get his tenth career win for the Pride. That lowered his season earned run average to 3.05. O’Hanlon went the final two innings of work only surrendering one hit and striking out one.
The Pride was only able to manage four hits in this matinee, with Liberatore getting half of them. The other two hits came courtesy of Bailey and Michael Florides, the former Boston College Eagle. This was Liberatore’s seventh multiple-hit game this season. His batting average is now .282 after this game, which ranks fourth in the team leaders for batting average behind Brian Morrell, Kevin Bruggeman and Anthony D’Onofrio.
After a long bus ride back from North Carolina, the Pride returns to action at home against Morrell’s former team, the St. John’s University Red Storm. The game will take place at University Field on Tuesday, April 12, at 3 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Joe Browning/UNCW Athletics
