With seven strikeouts in 6.1 innings pitched and just two earned runs allowed, starting pitcher John Rooney battled his way through game one of Hofstra’s double header against Elon University, leading the Pride to a 7-4 win over the Phoenix. Rooney improved to 4-7 on the season after recording the win in this one. Along with Rooney, the Pride as a team moved to 12-31 on the year.
“He [Rooney] competed really hard and he just battled - we worked around some walks and he got a couple of double play balls early… Late in the game he was still at 90 so he preserved his energy… Rooney really, really pitched today,” said Hofstra head coach John Russo.
John Rooney’s counterpart, Kyle Brnovich was very erratic on the mound for the Phoenix. Brnovich really lost his control in the bottom of the third inning where he gave up four runs, two of which were induced by wild pitches. To add on to that, he hit a total of five batters on the day which eventually ignited some words from one of the Hofstra hitters.
Both Brad Witkowski and Vito Friscia had themselves a day at the plate. Witkowski went 2-for-3 with a walk and three RBI while Friscia went 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBI of his own.
Friscia also added to his team leading number of homers at six with a two-run moonshot to left center in the bottom of the third.
Chris Weiss came in out of the bullpen to record his second save of the season. He pitched 2.2 innings allowing two runs on two hits while striking out seven.
“He [Weiss] just went through a little hiccup I thought at the mid part of the season, but up until then and now he’s been as good a pitcher as any in the CAA,” Russo said.