By Anders Jorstad – STAFF WRITER The Pride came into a home matchup against NYIT looking for answers followed by a heartbreaking 20-19 loss and a series loss at the hands of the Towson Tigers.
Once the game against the NYIT Bears began, Hofstra was determined not to suffer from similar circumstances as the Pride piled on runs and secured a 13-1 victory.
Freshman starter Patrick Bryant took the hill for the Pride, looking to improve upon some shaky outings. He had yet to throw more than 3.1 innings in a start and was sporting a 12.27 ERA coming into the contest.
Hofstra head coach John Russo mentioned before the game that he expected Bryant to throw 5 or 6 innings, something Bryant had never accomplished in his young career, because the bullpen was so gassed from the previous series.
Bryant had a shaky start to the first inning, allowing two men to reach base, one of which was erased on a double play.
His defense helped him get out of an early jam and the Pride started to give him some early run support in the bottom of the first when David Leiderman scored Mat Annunziata on an RBI single.
After Bryant got some much-needed run support from his team, he settled down and was able to paint the corners of the strike zone with ease, getting ahead of counts and blowing by opposing batters. At one point, Bryant was able to retire eight straight Bears batters.
By the time that streak ended, Hofstra was off to a 7-0 lead thanks to solid hitting from the entire lineup. Only one Pride starting position player, first baseman Brian MacDonald, did not reach base in the game.
Bryant threw six shutout innings, allowing five hits and striking out two before being relieved by Brendon Mulligan, who allowed the only NYIT run to score, throwing two innings and striking out two.
Luke Noone closed out the game with a perfect ninth inning in which he struck out the side. The win provides a lot of confidence for a Pride pitching staff that throws to a CAA-worst 7.02 ERA.
David Leiderman had a great game, going 4-for-5 with a home run, a double and 4 RBIs. He also made some terrific defensive plays at third base to keep NYIT from crawling back into the game.
In a down year for Hofstra in the CAA with a 3-12 conference record, second-to-last only to James Madison, tune-up games like these greatly develop young players on the roster for the future.