The Hofstra Pride baseball team defeated Saint Peter’s University 15-8 on Tuesday, May 10, in an offensive showdown at Jaroschak Field in Jersey City, New Jersey. Ryan Morash went 4-5 with five RBIs and scored three runs of his own.

After falling behind by two in the bottom of the second inning, the Pride responded with three runs of their own. A bases-loaded groundout to first base by Brian Morrell scored the first, and then Steve Harrington hit a double to center field to drive home Jake Liberatore and Will Kennedy for a 3-2 lead. The lead grew by one an inning later on an RBI single from Michael Florides.

The sixth and seventh inning remained the same for the Pride as five runs were scored stretching their run total to nine. Will Kennedy doubled in the sixth inning, scoring Morash and Zack Bailey. An RBI single by Santino Rosso brought Morrell home. One batter later, Morash hit one to center, allowing both Rosso and Harrington to cross the plate.

The solid bullpen work from Hofstra pitcher Steven Kaenzig did not last through the seventh inning as he ran into trouble quickly. After striking out the first batter, two singles and a walk loaded the bases for Anthony Abbatine. Dustin Kelleher came in relief for Kaenzig and got Abbatine to hit a grounder to Morash who wisely got the out at home. However, with the bases still full, Tom Buckman scored two on a hit to left field, narrowing the gap to five runs. Two consecutive walks gave Saint Peter’s another run, so Hofstra head coach Frank Catalanotto made the decision to put Aljo Sujak in to pitch. He hit the first batter he saw, making it a three-run game. That was not all as the score jumped to 9-8 on a two-run single from Jeff Massicotte, but Sujak then struck the next batter out, stranding two and ending the six-run inning.

Hofstra got off to a quick response in the eighth inning as they loaded the bases with the first three batters. Senior Nick Marrero started what became a six-run rally by hitting a sacrifice fly that scored Liberatore. After Harrington and DiMartino successfully pulled off a double steal, Saint Peter’s intentionally walked Zack Bailey to face Santino Rosso. That proved to be a mistake as pitcher Ryan Wappaus walked Rosso, which allowed DiMartino to score and kept the bases loaded. Morash hit his third, fourth, and fifth RBI of the game on a  bases-clearing triple to right field that busted the game open and gave the Pride a six-run lead. Florides tacked on one more on an RBI groundout to second.

Bailey, normally a position player, pitched his second scoreless inning of the season in the ninth inning to close out the game with a final of 15-8. Kaenzig was credited with the win as he pitched 4.1 innings while Jack Gannon got the loss after pitching 5.2 innings and allowing six runs.

Hofstra won all three games against Saint Peter’s this year and will finish the season with a three-game series against James Madison University, a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) matchup that will determine where the two teams will be seeded for the CAA Championship.

Photo Courtesy of Hofstra Athletics