The Hofstra Pride baseball team fumbled in their third straight loss, losing by a score of 10-4 to the North Carolina A&T University Aggies, bringing their overall record to 7-15.
In the second game of this three-game matchup, the Pride coaching staff gave the nod to John Mikolaicyk while the Aggies sent Daniel Carter to the mound seeking their second win.
On the losing side, Dylan Palmer, Santino Rosso and Steve Harrington all secured two hits each and all had at least one RBI, but it wasn’t enough with the lack of offense from the rest of the lineup.
With a hitless top of the first inning for the Pride, the Aggies drew the first punch with a sacrifice fly to center field from Camden Jackson, scoring Shemar Dalton to put A&T on the board with an early 1-0 lead.
The top of the second inning, however, was different for Hofstra with an offensive uproar started off by a single to left field for Harrington. A throwing error by Aggies shortstop Sabin Roane put Ryan Morash on first and moved Harrington to second. A balk from Carter moved Harrington and Morash to second and third. A walk to Michael Florides set up a bases-loaded double down the left field line by Dylan Palmer, scoring Harrington and Morash to take a quick 2-1 lead. Another bases-loaded walk, to Brian Morrell, put a third run on the board scoring Florides and extending to a 3-1 lead for Hofstra.
A&T’s offense continued its dominance in the bottom half of the second with a quick bases-loaded fielder’s choice from Dalton to score Cameran Brantley now bringing the Aggies within one. A double to left field by Cort Maynard tied the game at three with TJ Ash scoring the tying run. That double knocked Mikolaicyk out of the game, surrendering three runs on two hits with only one strikeout on the day. Carlos Martinez was brought into the game.
The Aggies also made a pitching change sending Luke Brown to relieve Carter after he allowed three runs off two hits with three strikeouts on the day. After a scoreless third with only one hit from both Hofstra and the Aggies, the Pride regained the lead in the top of the fourth with a Will Kennedy double in the gap toward left-center field scoring Palmer to make it 4-3.
In the bottom half, Martinez struck out Roane to start the inning on a good note, but three straight singles from Dalton, Maynard and Jackson tied the game at four in the fourth. The Aggies continued to roll, with another sacrifice fly scoring Maynard to take the lead 5-4. A towering three-run homerun by Brantley gave A&T a cushioned 8-4 lead over the Pride.
Hofstra could not answer back with a scoreless top of the fifth, and another pitching change put Zach Bailey on the mound for Hofstra. The Aggies continued their offensive prowess by putting men on the bases. Another Maynard double scored two more runs for the Aggies putting the game out of reach for the Pride 10-4.
The rest of the game only saw seven more hits from both teams combined as the Pride continued to struggle after a well-rounded start at the beginning of the game. The Aggies locked down with excellent pitching as Trent Simmons shut down the Pride’s offense.
In the ninth, the Pride was seeking a huge rally and started off with a Nick Marrero single to center field putting one man on. But Simmons continued to dominate, setting up three straight strikeouts of Sammy Burman, Anthony D’Onofrio and Dom Camera to seal the save and win for the Aggies 10-4.
The win put North Carolina above .500 with a 12-11 record and a 5-3 record in conference play. Hofstra’s bats continue to go silent as their offensive production is something they are still looking for as the season goes on. Carlos Martinez came away with the loss, and Luke Brown added the win to his name for the Aggies.
In their last game of this three-game set, the Hofstra Pride will seek to steal one win against the North Carolina A&T University Aggies on Sunday, March 26, with the first pitch set for 1 p.m.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Dale Sparks
