The Hofstra baseball team fell to Troy University on Friday night, 4-0, in the first game of a four-game series against the Trojans. The Pride struck out 11 times, leaving eight men on base to be held to under two runs for the sixth time in its 12 games. Hofstra starter Teddy Cillis (0-2) gave his team a strong chance to win, throwing five innings of one-run, two hit baseball. He worked out of trouble in the third and the fourth innings before giving up his lone run in the fifth, which was enough to hand him the loss.
Cillis struck out five, but also walked four before being replaced by John Ryan in the bottom of the sixth. Ryan and Seamus Brazill were unable to keep the Troy lead at just one run, giving up three more runs over the course of the seventh and the eighth innings.
Hofstra’s best chance to score took place in the top of the seventh, when they were still only down 1-0. Troy starting pitcher Daren Osby (3-1) walked David Leiderman and Mikey Riesner before being relieved by Marc Skinner.
Skinner struck out Vinnie Costello, making it two outs, but then walked Parker Quinn to load the bases for Tom Archer. Archer struck out swinging in four pitches to end the Pride’s only real scoring threat.
Hofstra did not have a single batter with more than one hit on Friday night, bringing the team batting average down to .243 on the season.
Stephen Foster’s leadoff single in the top of the eighth inning extended his hitting streak to six games. Sean Rausch, David Leiderman, Mikey Riesner and Vinnie Costello also had hits for the Pride.
With the loss, Hofstra drops to 3-9 on the season while Troy improves to 7-5.
The Pride continues its weekend series against the Trojans on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader, playing at 1 p.m. (CST) and 4:30 p.m. (CST).