The Hofstra baseball team fell to the George Washington University (GW) Colonials, 7-0, in a shutout loss at Tucker Field at Barcroft Park in Arlington, VA, on Friday, March 11. The Pride’s record drops to 4-5 after suffering its third straight loss.
It was a slow game for the Hofstra offense throughout, only mustering four runs in nine innings.
Things began to unravel in the third, when GW batter Tim Nicholson occupied second base. The next man up, Steve Ditomaso, struck a ground ball to left field. The throw to first base sailed over the head of Hofstra’s Steve Harrington and into the Hofstra dugout, resulting in an automatic double for GW that gave them the 1-0 lead. Ditomaso and Eddie Micheletti scored runs off a pair of singles to extend the lead to 3-0 heading into the fourth inning.
That was one of two errors for the Pride in the game. They also allowed two walks. Hofstra pitcher Mark Faello struck out three batters before before being switched out at the top of the sixth inning. GW Pitcher Harrison Cohen had eight strikeouts to his name, with half of those splitting between Harrington and Kevin Bruggeman.
The Pride was held hitless from inning four to seven, and the lack of offensive production poured over into the eighth . Down 4-0 , the Pride forced two away. Ahead 1-2 in the count, pitcher Steven Kaenzig threw three straight pitches outside the strike zone to allow GW’s Ryan Herskowitz a walk to first base. This led to back-to-back hits for GW that brought Herskowitz around to score.
Later, on an 0-2 count, Kaenzig threw a wild pitch that was too high for Bruggeman to catch behind home plate, allowing Logan Leax to score. A double from Eddie Micheletti Jr. brought Ditomaso around to score his second run of the game, extending GW’s lead to 7-0.
One of four base hits for the Pride came in the top of the ninth, but it didn’t lead to anything of note as Morrell was left on second base after Harrington grounded out to second base to end the inning.
Friday’s loss is only the first of a three-game series between Hofstra and GW. The game scheduled for Saturday, March 12, has been rescheduled to Sunday, March 13, due to inclement weather. The doubleheader will begin at 11:30 a.m. The first pitch for game two is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
