On Friday, April 17, the Hofstra University baseball team began their first game of a three-game set against UNC-Wilmington and secured the 10-1 win.

Carlos Martinez took the mound and inked his second win of the season, making his record 2-1 on the bump. Martinez went 6.2 innings and struck out a career-high 15 batters. The first two innings were slow; both teams did not put up any runs. 

In the third inning, center fielder Tyler Cox stepped into the batter’s box and drove in Nick Biddle to make the score 1-0 in favor of the Pride. Infielder Gabriel Melara then drove in CJ Griggs on a single to centerfield.

In the fourth inning, Biddle doubled off a 1-2 pitch from UNCW’s Connor Marshburn. Biddle drove in Sam Leonard to make it a 3-0 ball game.

The Pride kept hitting during the fifth inning. Griggs scored on Danny Corona’s infield single. Later in the inning, Leonard walked and brought in Cox to score for Hofstra. Biddle reached first base on a throwing error, which brought in Corona and Tyler Castrataro. 

In the sixth inning, the Pride added to their lead. Corona singled to right field, driving in Melara to make the score 8-0. The Pride reached double digits on their side of the scoreboardwhen Griggs singled to right field, driving in Leonard and Biddle. The Pride were held scoreless after the sixth inning.

UNCW got on the board in the seventh frame. The Seahawks’ JP Pennella – the Coastal Athletic Association’s (CAA) second-highest batting-average leader with a .371 average – helped to break the scoring drought for UNCW. Pennella singled, scoring Kevin Jones to bring the score to 10-1.

The matchup had major implications in the division standings. With the new North and South divisions format implemented in the CAA, UNCW fell to second place in the South Division. The Seahawks now sit 9-7 in conference play and 20-17 overall this season. The win came right after Hofstra took two losses to Stony Brook University and a non-conference loss to St. John’s University.

Hofstra sat in the fourth-place seat of the North Division in the CAA, a single spot away from a playoff position. The Pride held a 12-19 overall record and a 7-9 record in conference play. The statistical leaders for Hofstra this season have been heavy in the hitting department. Michael Brown lead the blue and gold with a .327 batting average and has racked up 35 hits following the first game against the Seawolves.

The Pride looked to stay in the win column throughout the rest of the UNCW series. Following their series against the Seahawks, Hofstra traveled to Newark, New Jersey, to play The New Jersey Institute of Technology on Tuesday, April 21. First pitch for the mid-week matchup was slated for 6 p.m.