The Hofstra University baseball team took double losses in a doubleheader against UNC-Wilmington (UNCW) to open their home Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) slate on Friday, April 4. The Pride lost 12-4 in game one and 9-2 in game two, dropping their record to 11-20 overall with a 2-6 record in CAA play.
The Seahawks remain the reigning CAA champions and improve to 16-15 overall with an even 4-4 record against fellow CAA teams with their twin bill sweep.
“We’re playing against a good team there,” said Hofstra head coach Frank Catalanotto. “Wilmington’s really good. They throw the ball well, they defend well and they get timely hitting, so we had to play much better baseball if we want to win the game.”
After two scoreless innings, UNCW attacked first in game one, driving in nine runs in the third inning off Hofstra starter Sean Hamilton and reliever Brian Hart, who entered the game only one out away in the inning. Hamilton gave up an RBI single to Trevor Lucas and a two-run homer to Cole Nelson. Hart struggled to secure outs number two and three after giving up six runs, two for Hamilton, after the starter’s departure.
The Pride responded to their nightmarish third inning by driving in three of their own runs. With runners on the corners, Bryce Curry hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Michael Craig. Dylan Palmer followed up Curry’s play with an RBI double to send in CJ Griggs, then Tyler Cox also hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Nick Biddle.
Palmer combined for 4-10 in both games of the doubleheader.
“[Playing hard] is just who [Palmer] is,” Catalanotto said. “We’ve seen it from day one when he got here a few years ago. He’s the same guy day in and day out. He has a lot of energy, he loves playing the game of baseball, he wants to be out on the field, he wants to be up in the big moment and he puts together good at-bats.”
Hamilton took the loss for game one after giving up five runs on two hits and five walks over 2.3 innings for the first decision of his season. Zane Taylor took the win for the Seahawks, only giving up three runs in the fourth inning but also giving up six hits, one walk and recorded a wild pitch.
“I just told [the team], ‘Hey, we can hang with this team. This team is good, but we just have to put together some good at-bats, and when we get the opportunity with runners in scoring position, we’ve got to cash in,’” Catalanotto said on the team’s mindset between games. “Offensively, I feel like we can hang with this team, it’s just they don’t make mistakes on the field defensively and they do a good job pounding the strike zone.”
Game two began with a much smaller lead than the first half of the twin bill. The Pride scored first in the second game when freshman Jake Harring drove in Griggs for a 1-0 lead. Harring also drove in the Pride’s only other run, a one-out fielder’s choice to bring Tyler Castrataro home.
As with game one, Hofstra struggled to leave runners on base, most notably in the ninth inning of game two, when Brayden Gregg gave up five runs in the inning.
Jackson Bauer took the loss for game two despite only giving up three runs on six hits over 4.2 innings. While Bauer pitched four walks, he also recorded four strikeouts.
“Early on, I thought [Bauer] pitched really well,” Catalanotto said. “He was throwing strikes, keeping them off balance a little bit. He looked good, one of his best starts that he’s had, and then it kind of fell apart.”
Hofstra concluded their series with UNCW on Saturday, April 5. First pitch was at 11 a.m. at University Field.
