By Mike Rudin – SPORTS EDITOR The Hofstra Pride baseball team took down College of Charleston, 3-1, for the second straight win on Saturday afternoon at University Field.
Pride pitcher John Rooney stole the show with a complete-game win. He surrendered just one earned run, four hits but struck out eight batters.
“It all started on the mound,” Hofstra head coach John Russo said after the game on Rooney’s performance. “His outing got better and better as the game went on.”
The Charleston Cougars took a 1-0 lead over the Pride in the top of the second but that was the end of their production.
Hofstra bounced back in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run double by Ryan Karl. He delivered with the bases loaded, driving in Vito Friscia and David Leiderman.
Later in the bottom of the sixth, Karl stepped up again at the plate with another double, which brought Friscia home for the second time.
Charleston’s starter Bailey Ober finished his outing going seven innings on the mound, coughing up all three Pride runs.
He took the loss on the day, dropping to 3-2 this season, he gave up eight hits, two walks and struck out four.
Karl was the offensive MVP going 2-for-3 and driving in all three runs. Kevin O’Connor had a perfect day, batting 3-for-3 at the plate. Leiderman was the only other batter for Hofstra who had a multi-hit performance, going 2-for-2 and scoring one run.
Rooney’s record went up to 2-4 and his earned run average dropped to 4.08. The freshman pitcher has gotten better over the last few outings. His ERA consistently dropped from 6.43 on March 26.
“This is obviously best case scenario for us … we saved the bullpen,” Russo said. “We have a lot of fresh arms, we have a lot of confidence right now. I thought we swung the bats really well.”
Hofstra is now 3-10 all-time when competing against the Cougars.