Baseball swept by Towson during Friday doubleheader

The Hofstra Pride did not start off the weekend the way they wanted, as they were swept by Towson University in a doubleheader on Friday, April 23. The Tigers beat Hofstra 9-8 in game one and won 4-3 in game two in extra innings.

With these losses, Hofstra now has 10 wins and 14 losses overall, with a 1-8 record in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play. Towson is now 15-22 overall, and with these two wins is now 5-1 in CAA play.

 “I really liked the energy, I liked the effort [we] gave,” said Hofstra head coach John Russo. “Towson’s a super tough team.”

Both wins for Towson were the result of runs late in the game. In game one, Hofstra jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the second inning, led by a two-run single by Will Kennedy and an RBI single by Austin Gauthier. Hofstra made it 6-0 in the fourth inning on a walk with the bases loaded.

Towson started to cut into the deficit starting in the fifth inning, scoring one run. They then scored two more in the sixth to cut the lead in half. They put up two more runs in the seventh before tying the game in the eighth.

Hofstra scored two more runs to take the lead back. One of those runs came on a fielder’s choice hit into by catcher Kevin Bruggeman, while the other came on an RBI double from Gauthier. However, the Tigers put the pressure on John Mikolaicyk, scoring three runs in the top of the ninth inning on a sacrifice fly by Noah Cabrera, and a two-run single by Jake Lysaght, who came off the bench in the seventh inning.

Mikolaicyk was credited with the loss, his third of the season. He now has a record of 0-3. The win was credited to Jake Pecilunas, who improves to 1-1 on the year. Austin Weber picked up the save.

Game two was a different story, as Towson led the game 2-0 until the seventh inning. It was 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth when Rob Weissheier hit a two-run home run over the right field wall that barely left University Field. That was his third home run of the season, as well as his 20th career home run at Hofstra.

Hofstra turned to multiple freshmen to relieve Mark Faello. Steven Kaenzig, Michael O’Hanlon and Tristan Nemjo all made appearances at critical times, despite Kaenzig's giving up an earned run.

“I was super impressed with Kaenzig today,” Russo said. “I thought [Michael] O’Hanlon was incredible with the bases loaded, and [he] was a pitch away from getting out of it.”

O’Hanlon came into the game with the bases loaded and nobody out, while the score was still 2-1 in the top of the ninth. While he did give up a run, his pitching prevented further calamity for the Pride.

Despite this, Nemjo was credited with the loss, his first of the season. The win was given was to Kody Reeser, making him 3-3 on the season.

Hofstra plays another doubleheader on Saturday, April 24 against Towson at University Field. Game one starts at 11 a.m., with the second at 3 p.m.

Photo Courtesy of Adam Flash/The Hofstra Chronicle