By Dave Gibb

Given the Hofstra baseball team’s early-season scheduling woes, a four-game weekend series at home against the 0-11 University of Vermont Catamounts should have seemed like an exciting proposition. The Pride looked strong coming off of their first win last Wednesday against St. Johnís and with the long stretch of home games approaching, the team looked poised to continue playing well. Unfortunately for the Pride, the Vermont Catamounts used the weekend to get off the snide, claiming victory in three of the four contests at University Field. 

Saturday’s double-header belonged entirely to Vermont. Hofstra accomplished their hallmark early scoring ñ five runs in the first three innings of game one ñ but unlike other Pride opponents, the Catamounts kept pace, trailing by only one run through three innings. Regrettably for Hofstra, however, the game was scheduled for seven innings, not three. 

The turning point came in top of the fourth inning as Vermont scored seven runs in a rally that the Pride helped the Catamounts create. Vermont designated hitter Jeff Nolet led off the inning and was awarded first base after Pride starter Brody Fontaine hit him with a pitch. An uncharacteristic error by Pride third baseman Matt Prokopowicz allowed the next man to reach as well; giving the Catamounts two free base runners. The miscues continued as Vermont third sacker Dave Soltis attempted simply to bunt the runners over, but wound up with a single to load the bases when the Pride defense could not find an out. 

An RBI walk followed, marking the end of the day for Fontaine, but the Catamounts were obviously not intimidated by the prospect of facing the Hofstra bullpen, as the first man to bat against reliever Bobby Neelon belted a grand slam to left center field. The inning didn’t end there (in fact, there were no outs at the time), but the game did. Vermont’s monster fourth inning seemed to serve as a gut punch for Hofstra, who managed no runs on only three hits for the rest of the game en route to a 17-5 loss. 

Despite the draining loss, the day was not over for the Pride, who still had the second game of the double-header left to play. That game would also prove a long one for the Hofstra team and their fans, as the Catamounts jumped out of the gate to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first. 

Hofstra leadoff man Mark Stuckless made his presence known in the bottom of the first, when he had a triple to open the game for the Pride and ultimately scoring on an error. Also, his early heroics and a two-run rally against then-fatigued Vermont starter Joe Serafin in the last inning of the game represented the Pride’s only runs in the 11-3 loss. Serafin’s performance was the real story of the game, as he pitched angelically to say the least. He allowed seven hits and only two earned runs in seven innings, striking out six Hofstra batters and walking none. 

Unlike Saturday, however, Sunday’s double-header featured a great deal of close, exciting play between the Pride and the Catamounts. The first game featured superb pitching on both sides as Rob Kumbatovic faced off against Vermont’s Justin Albert. Each man completed the game’s scheduled 7 innings, with Albert even pitching the eighth. Both pitchers gave up two earned runs, and each walked only one. Second baseman Tom Legregni had a first inning solo home run that accounted for one of Hofstra’s runs. The other came in the second when Adam Perlo singled to bring home centerfielder John Kenny, who was 2-3 in the game. 

With the game headed to extra innings, Jeff Guthridge came in to pitch for the Pride, ending Kumbatovic’s terrific performance. Unfortunately, Guthridge was not having as dominant a game as Kumbatovic and walked Vermont’s leadoff man. To their credit, the Catamounts played superb extra inning baseball, following up the walk with a single and a perfectly executed sacrifice. 

With the game on the line, however, it was not the Catamount bats that spoiled the Pride’s day, but rather a wild pitch that allowed the go-ahead run to cross the plate. Vermont made the best of the Hofstra mistake, tacking on a valuable insurance run that would eventually net them a 4-2 victory. 

Despite the disappointing loss, the team can take pride (no pun intended) in the fantastic start of Rob Kumbatovic. The seven-inning effort represented arguably the strongest performance by any Hofstra pitcher thus far this year. 

Building on the theme established in the first game of the day, pitching ruled the back end of the twin bill. Pride starter Nick Panzarella pitched very well, allowing only two runs (one earned) in five innings of work while walking none and striking out four. Tom Kelly opposed Panzarella for Vermont, pitching fairly effectively, but struggling with the strike zone, as evidenced by his 6 walks in only 6 innings. When he put the ball in the zone, Kelly was very stingy, however, allowing only 3 base hits and constantly working himself out of the trouble his walks had gotten him into. 

Sophomore right-hander Kevin Rigopoulos picked up where Panzarella left off, pitching three strong innings of effective relief, allowing only one hit while striking out two and walking three. Rigopoulos Hofsird with one and first baseman Adam Perlo coming to the plate. 

Perlo hit a ball to third, but for the second play in a row, the Vermont offense failed to make a key defensive play. This time, however, the mistake cost them the game as Mentrasti crossed the plate, scoring the winning run and salvaging the Pride a win in the series. The win also pushed their home record back towards .500 at 2-3, with their other win coming against St. John’s in last week’s opener.