Baseball wins fourth straight behind productive offense

The Hofstra baseball team won its fourth straight game on Saturday, April 20, with a 6-4 victory over the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks at University Field in Hempstead.

Hofstra (10-24, 4-7 CAA) now has its longest winning streak of the season. 

“We’re just a different club right now, and I’ve been waiting for us to do well all year,” said Hofstra head coach John Russo said. “We’re just starting to play good baseball.”

The Pride got contributions from multiple players in Saturday’s tilt with the Seahawks (20-20, 5-6 CAA). Eight of Hofstra’s nine hitters reached base at least once.

Hofstra used both speed and power to generate offense. Rob Weissheier and Parker Quinn each went yard and the Pride stole five bases.

“I thought [the Pride was] the aggressive team,” Russo said after the win. 

Defensively, freshman left-hander, Ryan Rue slowed down the Seahawks allowing three hits and two runs while striking out five in six innings en route to his second win of the season.

“There’s no more honest effort than what Ryan Rue does and to have his work ethic as a freshman is incredible,” Russo said.

After allowing a run in the second inning on a Doug Angeli single, Rue retired 11 straight batters from the end of the second inning until the start of the sixth frame.

Meanwhile, the Pride put runs across the plate in five straight innings. Weissheier drove in Austin Pollack with a single to left field in the third.

Anthony D’Onofrio led off the fourth inning with a walk, advanced to second base on a Jimmy Joyce base hit and came around to score on a throwing error by catcher Lucas Oxendine as D’Onofrio attempted to steal third. Oxendine’s throw went over third baseman Cole Weiss’s head, allowing D’Onofrio to score and give Hofstra a 2-1 lead.

Vito Friscia opened the fifth inning with a walk against UNCW reliever Breydan Gorham. After Weissheier flied out, Friscia stole second base, advanced to third on a Gorham balk and scored on an Austin Gauthier sacrifice fly. 

The Seahawks answered in the top of the sixth with a home run from Greg Jones, but Quinn went deep in the home half of the sixth to put Hofstra back in front by three.

After Weissheier homered in the bottom of the seventh to put the Pride ahead 6-2, the Seahawks cut their deficit in half to 6-4 in the top of the eighth on a Riley Zayicek home run and a run-scoring triple off the bat of Weiss.

Michael James made his first relief appearance of the year and worked around a leadoff walk to pick up the save.

Hofstra will go for the sweep against UNCW on Sunday, April 21, with first pitch scheduled for noon.

Image Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics