It was a true game of cat and mouse at University Field on Friday, April 30, as the Hofstra baseball team defeated the University of Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens 14-11. The Pride took advantage of Delaware in the seventh inning, where they scored nine of their 14 runs.
This win is Hofstra’s thirteenth of the year, and their fourth in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play. They now have an overall record of 13-14, with a 4-8 record in CAA games. Delaware is now at eight wins and 15 losses overall, with a 4-9 record in CAA play.
Freshman Michael O’Hanlon picked up his first ever win for Hofstra, while Josh Venti took the loss for Delaware, his first of the season, making him 1-1 for the year. John Mikolaicyk had a return to form, picking up his fourth save of the season.
Even though the Pride scored fourteen runs, they only scored them in long innings: five in the second inning, and seven in the seventh inning.
Delaware struck first in the high-scoring game, taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Hofstra then had the first of its big innings by not just tying the game, but taking the lead on an Austin Gauthier grand slam to make it 5-1.
“Austin [Gauthier]’s been a great player the last few years,” said Hofstra head coach John Russo. “He was a great player today. He’s getting healthier. Remember, he played through a knee injury for a few weeks.”
Delaware then scored eight unanswered runs, with three coming from a home run by leftfielder Aidan Kane in the top of the fifth inning.
The seventh inning was huge for Hofstra. The inning began with the Pride down 9-5. The first two runs were scored on an RBI double by junior Anthony D’Onofrio. The Pride then loaded the bases and tallied five runs on five straight walks.
“I was really happy with how the guys were patient,” Russo said. “[Kevin] Bruggeman to make it a one run game, [Alex] Sica to tie the game. Then you get [Aidan] Larkin who walks to bring in Austin [Gauthier].”
Now up 12-9, first baseman Rob Weissheier decided that wasn’t enough, and singled in two more runs to make it 14-9.
“The big at-bat for me in the inning was Rob Weissheier,” Russo said. “He gets to two strikes, battles off four or five pitches, and then bloops the single to score two more runs. We needed every one of those runs today.”
Delaware could only muster two more runs in the top of the eighth off of Aljo Sujak, but couldn’t get anything else going once Mikolaicyk came in.
Hofstra takes on Delaware for a double header on Saturday, May 1, at University Field. Game one starts at 11 a.m., and game two will start at 3 p.m.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
