After losing their series against Stony Brook University, the Hofstra University baseball team traveled to Queens on Tuesday, April 14, to visit St. John’s University. A six-run fifth inning was instrumental in the Red Storm victory.
Sean Hamilton was on the mound for the Pride, making his seventh start of the season. He entered the day with an 0-4 record, alongside an 8.80 ERA. Pitching two innings, he allowed three hits, walked three batters and allowed three runs.
For the Red Storm, Nick Gilpin made his first career start. Entering the day, he had an 0-0 record and carried a 1.80 ERA into the afternoon. Pitching four innings, he allowed four hits, struck out two batters and allowed two runs.
St. John’s got the scoring started right away, as Jon LeGrande opened the game with a leadoff double. LeGrande came home after the next batter Jayder Raifstanger lined one to the opposite field. Raifstanger was brought home by a Dylan Fitzsimmons sacrifice fly to left fielder Giovanni Bausone.
Hofstra answered with a pair of their own runs in the second. Nate Lynn smoked a liner right over first baseman Adam Agresti’s head to drive in Gabriel Melara. Lynn then came home after Michael Brown was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
The Red Storm answered back in the bottom half of the inning as LeGrande brought home Sean Britt after he singled to left field to give St. John’s a 3-2 lead.
The Pride scored five runs in the fifth. Hofstra’s first run of the inning came after Brown scored on a wild pitch, then Nick Gallello drove in Tyler Cox and CJ Griggs after he singled to center. Melara scored on a wild pitch, and Sam Leonard drove in Gallello with a single up the middle.
The Red Storm one-upped the Pride, scoring six runs in the bottom half of the fifth. Shaun McMillian got all of a pitch and sent it over the left field wall, plating himself and LeGrande. Two more runs came in after Rob Mansour singled to left center, scoring Agresti and Fitzsimmons. The final two runs of the inning came after Lewis Rodriguez, who started the inning with a groundout, singled just past the outstretched gloves of both Melara and Brown. After 11 total runs in the fifth inning, the score stood at 9-7 in favor of the Red Storm.
St. John’s added one final run in the next frame, as Agresti lifted another one over the left field wall to give the Red Storm a 10-7 lead that they retained for the final nine outs. Nick Romer earned his first career save, but it wasn’t a typical one, as he had to pitch the final five outs.
With the loss, the Pride dropped to 11-19 on the season, while St. John’s improved to 18-18 on the season.
The Pride look to rebound as they travel down to North Carolina for a weekend series against UNC-Wilmington. The series started on Friday, April 17, and first pitch from Brooks Field was set for 6 p.m.
