By Dave Gibb

The baseball team’s game against Siena College Tuesday afternoon on University Field was, if anything, a clear display of both the strengths and weaknesses of the Pride. Siena arrived at Hofstra as the kind of team the Pride should target to defeat, especially at home.

The Saints’ record entering the game was 2-18, suggesting that it could wind up a good day for the Pride. However, Hofstra ultimately lost the game 10-4, falling to 2-13 overall (0-3 in CAA conference play). While the Pride lost a game, which may have been theirs to win, they played competitive baseball aside from one monster inning from the Saints. 

As with most of the Pride’s recent games, Hofstra’s starting pitching was strong, with Bobby Neelon pitching five innings, allowing seven hits while striking out one, walking two, and allowing only one earn run. He was opposed by Siena’s Nico Stento, who fell victim to one of the Pride’s great strengths: their aggressive, successful offense early in the game. 

It was the second inning in which the Pride launched their typical early-inning outburst. Nick Panzarella, who pitched very well over the weekend but was playing center field in Tuesday’s game, led off the inning with a single to right. The next batter, third baseman Dion Pouncil, playing place of Matt Prokopowicz, was hit by a pitch before Adam Perlo singled, driving in Panzarella and pushing Pouncil to third. The Pride then used their aggressive base running to steal (pun intended) a second run in the inning as Perlo broke for second, stealing the base successfully as Pouncil scrambled home to score on the double-steal. 

While the rally embodied the offensive potential the Pride possess, the team would not score again until the seventh inning when right fielder Mark Stuckless drove in two more runs, temporarily tying the game at 4. 

The very next half inning, however, the Saints struck back, scoring five runs on four hits, two walks, and two wild pitches. They would tack on another run in the top of the ninth, providing them with a 10-4 advantage, one which the Pride simply could not overcome. 

While the game was not a victory for Hofstra, it illustrated many of the team’s better points including their strong, early offense and at times dominant starting pitching.  However, the Pride clearly needs to improve both their bullpen pitching and their run-scoring timing. In short, the team needs to learn to hold the line rather than turning early leads into defeats.

The Pride next takes University Field on Friday, March 27 against conference rival, Northeastern for a three-game series. The Huskies are 10-7 overall and 1-2 in conference play.