The Hofstra baseball team traded runs with the University of Rhode Island Rams on Friday, April 2, but was unable to pull off a win, falling 12-11 at Bill Beck Field in Kingston, RI. The Pride’s 11 runs were the third-most they’ve put up in a game this season.
Rob Weissheier kicked off the scoring by sending a double to left field that brought home Austin Gauthier and put the Pride on the scoreboard in the first inning. An error at shortstop then allowed Anthony D’Onofrio to reach home plate, and another error in the next at-bat allowed the Pride to load the bases with just one out. Kevin Bruggeman added to the Pride’s score with a single to left field that batted-in both Weissheier and Brian Goulard to extend Hofstra’s early advantage to 4-0.
The bottom of the first saw Rhode Island take full advantage of Hofstra’s defense, as the Rams put up two runs despite tallying just one hit in the inning. Three walks and two stolen bases allowed the Rams to send Austin White and Josh Brodeur around the bases and shrink the Pride’s lead to two runs.
After two straight strikeouts from the Rams’ Ryan Twitchell left Goulard on third base to end the top of the third, the Rams built on their momentum from the previous inning, taking the lead with a three-run frame. A double from Brodeur batted in Tino Salgado, White reached home for the second inning in a row after being hit by a pitch from Mark Faello, and Xavier Vargas singled to bring Brodeur home to give the Rams a 5-4 advantage.
The Pride was able to tie things up with the Rams in the fifth inning. Weissheier singled for his second hit of the game, and after advancing to second, Ryan Morash sent a single to the outfield, letting Weissheier reach home for the tying run. The bottom of the inning spelled more trouble for the Pride, though, as a Mark Coley double batted in Greg Cavaliere and Tommy Cartnick, both of whom got on base due to full-count walks from Faello.
Down 7-5 heading into the sixth, the Pride erupted for a four-run inning to take the lead once again. A single from D’Onofrio loaded the bases, and a wild pitch from Zach Fernandez against his first batter of the game sent Aidan Larkin home. Weissheier walked with the next at-bat, and Goulard smashed a double to right field to bring three Hofstra runners to home plate, giving the Pride a 9-7 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, three-consecutive singles loaded the bases for the Rams, and Steven Kaenzig took the mound for the Pride to relieve Faello. Much like Rhode Island’s Fernandez, his first batter faced did not go as planned, as Kaenzig hit pinch hitter Joe Fortin for a Rams score. A flyout from White allowed Coley to score next, and a wild pitch allowed Alex Santos to extend the Rams’ advantage to 10-9.
The lead changed hands two more times in the eighth inning, as both squads traded two-run frames, setting up an all-or-nothing top of the ninth with the Pride trailing 12-11. The Rams’ Trystan Levesque struck out Santino Rosso and sent a groundball to first base to catch D’Onofrio for the inning’s first two outs, and the game came to a close with Weissheier flying out to left field.
Goulard led the Pride with four RBIs, followed closely by Bruggeman who tallied three. Weissheier recorded three hits in four at-bats to go with his one RBI. On the mound, Faello struck out four batters while pitching 4.1 innings, but the loss went to Chris Mott who took the mound in the bottom of the eighth.
In their first game since March 14, the Pride’s record fell to 7-6, but they will look to get back in the win column on Saturday, April 3 with a doubleheader against the Rams to finish the weekend series.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
