By Regina Volpe -- STAFF WRITER Coming down from a win the day before, the Hofstra Pride baseball team fell to the Towson Tigers 4-2 on Sunday at Schuerholz Park in Maryland.
This contest was the last of a three-game series between the teams this weekend.
The game was scoreless for the first three and a half innings, with both teams quick to snag up balls hit on the ground and in the air. With solid pitching from both teams, the Pride and the Tigers ended up deadlocked at zero unil the bottom of the fourth.
Towson started the home half of the inning strong with a double from Colin Gimblet and singles from Brady Policelli and Chris Henze.
Gimblet made it home from Henze’s single and Policelli scored on a balk from Hofstra pitcher John Rooney. Jay Sanford earned another run for the Tigers in the bottom of the fifth.
Towson kept the 3-0 lead until the eighth inning.
Hofstra turned up the heat in the top of the eighth, managing to rack up two runs to pull to within just one run of the lead.
Kyle O’Connor got the ball rolling with a bunt single, and a hit by Steven Foster got runners to first and third.
A single toward centerfield by Vito Friscia gave both O’Connor and Foster the opportunity to score, earning the Pride its only runs of the game.
The Tigers responded and stretched their lead in the bottom of the eighth with another run by Policelli.
A double play and a strikeout by Matt Dolente in the top of the ninth spelled the end for the Pride.
Taking the loss for Hofstra, Rooney allowed three runs (two earned) and seven hits in six innings of work.
Mat Annunziata led Hofstra with two hits, the only member of the Pride with a multi-hit game. Annunziata also had one of two extra-base hits for the Pride, with the other coming off the bat of Teddy Cillis.
With this loss, Hofstra now stands at 7-21, 1-4 in the CAA.
The team takes the field again Wednesday in Jersey City at Saint Peter’s University. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.