Just two days after Michael Brown hit a walk-off single to give the Hofstra University baseball team a victory in their series opener against Northeastern University, the Pride got a bit of déjà vu on Sunday, March 29, when CJ Griggs’ walk-off single sent pinch hitter Tyler Castrataro home for a 12-11 victory.
“I was looking for a fastball because [Northeastern pitcher Matthew Sapienza’s] fastball didn’t really do much,” Griggs said on facing a prior-seen pitcher for the walk-off. “I was just trying to get a good approach, get something over the plate and just hit it hard.”
Griggs’ go-ahead hit on a pitcher who had previously struck him out gave Hofstra their first series win of the season. The Pride improved to 8-14 on the season and 4-5 against Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) opponents. The Huskies sit at 14-12 overall and 8-4 in conference play.
“[I’m] very proud of the guys after yesterday’s tough loss, coming back, scoring four runs in the first three innings,” said Hofstra head coach Frank Catalanotto. “When we lost the lead, it kind of deflated us a little bit, but the guys stayed up on the bench and scored some runs late. And then in that last inning, it was a perfect recipe.”
Sean Hamilton recorded the most pitches thrown in an outing this season with 109. He gave up four runs – all earned – on nine hits in 5.1 innings while striking out seven batters. Unlike Saturday’s game, Hofstra’s entire pitching staff consistently threw to the strike zone, striking out a combined 10 hitters.
“I thought [Hamilton] was outstanding,” Catalanotto said. “I was very happy because we needed that out of him in this game, and I thought his stuff was really good.”
Hofstra’s pitchers ultimately started to struggle in the sixth inning, as Hamilton faced Northeastern’s lineup for the third time and gave up an RBI double to Chris Walsh. Jackson Bauer entered the game, loaded the bases and gave up a crucial grand slam, giving the Huskies a 7-4 lead. A trio of pitches dealt between Bauer and Deuce Musial caused traffic on the basepath, and the final out of the inning came after AJ Aschettino came home as Cooper Tarantino was ruled out attempting to advance to third base.
Daniel Escalante hit a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth, cutting the Hofstra deficit to three runs.
Harrison Feinberg, the Preseason CAA Player of the Year, opened the eighth inning with his own solo home run, and Musial left the game with runners on first and second base. Grady Lacourciere did not advance either of his inherited runners, as he gave up a flyout to Charlie Criscola.
The Pride came back the next inning to position themselves within two runs of the Huskies. George Holt led off with the first hit of his Hofstra career, a double to left field. Holt advanced on a pair of sacrifice hits by Brown and JJ DeVito, the latter of which sent Holt home. Tyler Cox followed up with a solo home run.
Lacourciere opened the ninth inning by loading the bases and sending home Carmelo Musacchia on Feinberg’s sacrifice fly. Nick Reese came in for the final out of the game to get the first win of his collegiate career.
Two pitchers the Pride had seen earlier in the series, Sapienza and Andrew Basel, reappeared on the mound in the bottom of the ninth. Entering the inning trailing 10-7, Escalante drove in a run on a one-out single. Sapienza relieved Basel and loaded the bases, plunking Castrataro. Brown sent Gabriel Melara home on a sacrifice grounder. DeVito walked to load the bases again, then Cox walked in the game-tying run as Griggs stepped up to the plate to deliver the game-winning RBI single up the middle.
“We had the best guy that I wanted up at the bat in that situation in [Griggs] because he’s got such a good eye,” Catalanotto said. “He’s one of my best hitters, and I know if he’s not going to get a hit, he’s probably going to walk. So, it was good to have him up there, and luckily, he was able to get one through the infield.”
Hofstra will play a midweek game at Rutgers University on Tuesday, March 31. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
