Vito Friscia’s four-RBI day led Hofstra baseball to a 14-6 victory over Monmouth University on Tuesday in New Jersey.
Friscia got the action going right from the start with a RBI groundout in the first inning. The Pride never trailed in the contest after.
Teddy Cillis followed with a run batted in of his own in the opening frame, roping his second double of the year. Hofstra tacked on another run to jump out to a 3-0 lead.
Monmouth responded in the bottom of the first with three runs crossing home off of one swing. Pete Papcun, who finished the game hitting 4-5 with five runs batted in, homered to left field. Papcun finished with two home runs.
Hofstra once more rallied for a three-run inning in the second. Austin Gauthier smacked a double to score two runners and Friscia picked up a RBI base hit to extend the Pride’s lead 6-3.
The Hofstra offense exploded in the eighth inning to run away it, collecting six runs. Friscia, Vinnie Costello and Parker Quinn each slapped two-run hits, making it 13-6.
Friscia picked up his 10th multi-hit game of the season to help the Pride go for a season-high in runs scored in one game. Friscia’s now batting .422 this season, which leads all CAA players.
Mike Riesner led all Hofstra hitters with three, putting him second on the roster with a .318 average.
Leadoff hitter Steven Foster walked twice, picked up one hit and scored all three times he reached base. The senior outfielder has the most base on balls in 2018 with 15.
Gauthier ended with three runs, two hits and two RBI from the second spot in the lineup.
Freshman Brad Camarda earned the win in his second career start. Camarda battled for two innings, striking out three, walking three and surrendering three runs on one hit.
Jimmy Joyce, Billy Kral and Kyle Skidmore all made their collegiate debuts. Joyce tossed a shutout fourth inning with one fanned batter. Kral recorded one out, a strikeout, and walked two. Skidmore allowed two runs in one frame.
Chris Weiss threw the final six outs, striking out three without allowing a run. Weiss now has 32 punch outs in 17.2 innings.
For the Hawks, Evan Ferris received the loss. He struck out three over 1.2 innings, but plated three runners in the second inning. Ryan Lillie was the only Monmouth pitcher out of seven to not allow a run. Lillie pitched two innings.
Hofstra (11-6) returns to CAA play beginning Friday for a three-game set in Maryland against Towson University.
