Pride offense halted by St. John's bullpen, lose another midweek matchup
On Tuesday, April 12, the Hofstra baseball team was defeated 6-4 at home against St. John's University. Hofstra now moves to 13-14 so far this year.
It was a quiet first inning for both teams as Chris Keenan was on the hill for the Pride, facing off against St. John’s Joe Mascio. Hofstra was first to score, thanks to back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the second by Steve Harrington and Jake Liberatore, making the score 1-0. Some great situational hitting by the Pride drove in Liberatore with a couple of sacrifice flyouts. Keenan was pulled early, only pitching three innings, as he got in a bit of a jam in the top of the fourth, walking the first two batters to put them on first and second with no outs.
Keenan was replaced by reliever Garrett Sullivan. It wasn’t the most effective start for the Hofstra right-hander, but he racked up five strikeouts in the process. St. John’s dropped a sacrifice bunt, moving the runners to second and third with only one out. They capitalized off the walks and bunt directly after, as designated hitter Jayson Kramer singled to right driving in St. John's first run of the game. In the very next inning, an error, stolen base and a single by St. John’s Nick Cirelli led to a 2-2 tie game. St. John’s loaded the bases with one out before the Pride turned an inning-ending double play.
The game remained tied throughout the sixth inning until St. John’s put together a three spot and broke it open in the top of the seventh, highlighted by a double that drove in two runs from second baseman Max Shabestari. St. John’s got one more on the board in the top of the eighth from a bases-loaded walk to make it a 6-2 ballgame going into the ninth. Hofstra then received a spark in the final inning as Sean Flaherty delivered with a two-run pinch-hit homer. St. John’s took care of business after, though, getting the last two outs to end the game.
It was a lackluster day for the Pride’s offense as well as the defense, which had two unfortunate errors in key spots throughout the game.
“Too many walks and not enough hits offensively, our pitchers have to throw strikes and our bats weren't very good,” said Hofstra head coach Frank Catalanotto. “You know, after the second inning … I was feeling pretty good about the team, about the energy in the dugout and then when they changed the pitcher, they brought in that guy that threw sliders, and it seemed like my guys could not make that adjustment … not much to be excited about today.”
Next, Hofstra will start a three-game home set against Colonial Athletic Association rival University of Delaware. The first game will take place Friday, April 15, at 3 p.m.
Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
