PHILADELPHIA, PA. – The Hofstra baseball team fell to 1-5 on the season as they dropped both games of a doubleheader to La Salle University on Saturday, Feb. 22. The Pride carried a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth inning in game one, but the Explorers rallied for two runs off of Jimmy Joyce to walk it off 4-3. In game two, La Salle exploded for 14 runs on 10 hits to sweep the doubleheader over the Pride.
Hofstra jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning of game one after La Salle starting pitcher Colin Scanlon allowed an RBI single from Anthony D’Onofrio and also walked in two batters.
Scanlon settled down, however, and shut out the Pride for the next six innings while striking out nine batters. The Explorers finally got on the board in the sixth following a single from Ross Mulhall and a throwing error by Hofstra left fielder Will Kennedy that scored two.
The score remained 3-2 in favor of the Pride until the ninth inning when Hofstra sent Joyce out on the mound to close the game, but came up unsuccessful. Joyce immediately got into trouble on back-to-back singles from Alfonse Sadallah and Elijah Dickerson and allowed La Salle to tie the score with a wild pitch.
Following a second wild pitch from Joyce later in the inning that advanced runners to second and third, La Salle won the game on a walk-off single from Ryan Guckin.
Hofstra’s bullpen proved to be unreliable once again as they coughed up a lead in the sixth inning or later for the fourth time this season.
Scanlon was dominant for La Salle after his first inning struggles and fired seven innings of three-run ball. For Hofstra, starting pitcher Jack Jett was solid and delivered three shutout innings and striking out five.
The second game of the doubleheader was not even close as La Salle completed the sweep with a 14-3 victory.
Austin Gauthier hit his second leadoff home run of the season and helped the Pride build an early 3-1 lead, but the Explorers responded with six runs in the second inning. La Salle roughed up Hofstra starting pitcher Steven Boscia, who only lasted one and two-thirds innings.
The Pride sent out relievers Jack Anderson and Mark Faello, but they were not much better as La Salle’s offense continued to pour it on. In the sixth inning, Tatem Levins cleared the bases for the Explorers with a double that brought their run total to 14.
Hofstra’s defense continued to struggle and committed four errors in the game that resulted in six unearned runs. The only bright spot for the Pride was Gauthier and D’Onofrio, who both recorded multi-hit games and are hitting over .500 for the season.
Hofstra will wrap up their series with La Salle on Sunday, Feb. 23, with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m.
Image Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
