Hofstra was taught a baseball lesson on Wednesday afternoon in a 12-4 loss to St. John’s University.
Both teams extended their own streaks. For No. 23 St. John’s, their winning streak extended to nine games, while the Pride dropped their sixth game in a row.
“I thought St. John’s beat us in every direction,” said Hofstra head coach John Russo.
“They pitched better than us, their offense was a lot better than us, they played better defense than us, they’re ranked 23 in the country for a reason,” Russo added.
Russo would be correct in his assessment, as the Pride were out-hit 13 to eight and made one error while St John’s made none. The Pride’s starting pitcher, Seamus Brazill, went just three innings, allowing three runs while Jeff Belge went six shutout innings with two hits allowed for the Red Storm.
St. John’s struck first this afternoon, going out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Josh Shaw and Luke Stampfl both registered a pair of RBI singles to welcome everyone to the ballpark.
The Pride failed to answer any of the punches thrown by St. John’s before the knockout blow in the fifth inning. The Red Storm scored eight runs in the top half. Robert Boselli got the party started for St. Johns as his two-RBI double would ignite the fifth inning fire in which the Red Storm would take an 11-run lead. Boselli had two hits on the day, both being doubles.
Other notable performances for the Red Storm came from John Valente, who was three for four with two RBI’s, and Stampfl was two for three with one run batted in.
While it wasn’t the best of outings for the Pride, there are a few bright spots to pick out from this game. Hofstra star Vito Friscia launched a three-run homer in the sixth inning – his first homer since March 31 against Towson University.
Steven Foster’s bat has caught fire recently – he went 2-3 Wednesday with a double. Foster extended his on-base streak to 12 games.
The Pride’s overall record moves to 14-15 as they await the arrival of the College of Charleston on Friday afternoon for the first of a three-game set.
