Baseball splits Saturday doubleheader against University of the Incarnate Word
The Hofstra baseball team continued their opening series of 2019 by splitting their Saturday, Feb. 16, double header at the University of Incarnate Word (UIW). They moved to 1-2 in the weekend series at the end of the night after winning the first game of the day 3-2 and losing the nightcap 12-1 a day after suffering a season-opening loss.
The Pride took Game 1 of the double header by a score of 3-2 to get their first victory of the 2019 season. That game was a hard-fought pitcher’s duel between starting pitchers Brad Camarda for Hofstra and Tyler Miller for Incarnate Word. Both Camarda and Miller had very good first starts of the season, but it was Camarda who got the victory.
The Pride offense threatened early when Miller walked the bases loaded in the first inning. Rob Weissheier had a chance to put runs on the board with two outs, but Miller got out of the jam and got Weissheier to fly out to center field to end the inning.
After the shaky start, Miller settled in. After loading the bases in the first, he retired the next eight Hofstra batters and did not give up a single hit until the fourth inning. He finished the day pitching five innings and giving up two runs on two hits while striking out five batters. He also walked four, which came back to hurt him in the sixth inning.
Camarda out-dueled Miller and pitched six innings, giving up only one earned run on four hits while earning three strikeouts.
Hofstra almost got to Miller in the fourth inning as well. With Sean Flaherty on first base, Jimmy Joyce lined a pitch into the right center field gap. UIW right fielder Sean Arnold made a great diving catch to end the inning and keep the game scoreless.
It was the Cardinals who got on the board first when Ridge Rogers brought in Antonio Valdez with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth inning, the only run Camarda allowed.
That Rogers RBI gave them a 1-0 lead, but it did not last long. In top of the sixth inning, the Pride offense threatened again. Catcher Vito Friscia was hit by a pitch and shortstop Austin Gauthier was walked to put runners on first and second. Weissheier came up to the plate with a chance to redeem himself after he left the bases loaded in the first inning.
Weissheier delivered for the Pride and smacked a three-run home run over the left-field fence to give Hofstra a 3-1 lead.
That home run proved to be the difference maker. Andrew Mundy came in to pitch for the Pride in the seventh and was able to hold the lead for the rest of the game. He pitched three solid innings surrendering only one run with two strikeouts to notch his first save of the season.
The second game of the double header did not fare as well for the Pride, as the team fell 12-1 to the Cardinals.
It was a tight 1-0 game until the sixth when the Cardinals tacked on three more runs to make in 4-0.
Then in the eighth inning, UIW erupted for eight more, largely due to the production from outfielder Jordan Thompson. Thompson went 2-4 and drove in five runs to lead the team. He had a three-run double in the sixth and added a two-run single in the eighth.
Valdez also shined for the Cardinals batting 2-4 and had two runs batted in. Defensively Bernie Martinez was brilliant on the mound for UIW, pitching six shutout innings and surrendering only three hits while striking out seven batters to get his first win this season.
For Hofstra, freshman Ryan Rue struggled in his debut for the Pride, allowing four earned runs on five hits.
Hofstra will look to split their opening four-game series with Incarnate Word on Sunday, Feb. 17. First pitch will be at 2 p.m. eastern time.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
