Vito Friscia on his walk-off HR to give Hofstra the dramatic 9-8 victory over Albany pic.twitter.com/4uJpcLxSBV
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 17, 2018
When you’re hot, you’re hot! Junior designated hitter Vito Friscia smacked an opposite field, walk-off HR in the tenth inning to give Hofstra a dramatic 9-8 victory over Albany in 10 innings.
Trailing 7-1 in the seventh inning, things were looking bleak for Hofstra if they had any hopes of extending their eight-game win streak. That was until a four-run seventh inning and two in the eighth tied the game up and made it a new ball game. Albany re-gained the lead in the top of the ninth, but once again Hofstra answered back in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI single by Justin Smith to score Daniel Page.
“I’m happy that the home crowd got to see what we’re made off,” said Hofstra head coach John Russo.
After Chris Weiss fired a scoreless top of the tenth, Friscia led off the home half of the tenth with the moonshot to deliver the Pride their ninth consecutive victory in the first game of the non-conference double header.
Oddly enough, the game began as a pitcher’s duel between Hofstra ace LHP John Rooney in front of a litany of scouts. The big southpaw was coming off a no-hitter last week and has seen his draft stock rise considerably since his performance in the Cape Cod League last summer. His fastball was in the 88-90 MPH range most of his outing. Rooney recorded 10 strikeouts, putting his career total to 199 to move into the all-time Hofstra lead with strikeouts. “He’s worked really hard for everything he’s done at Hofstra,” said Russo.
After the leadoff batter reached on an error, Brad Malm (Pat-Med 2017) hit a wind blown triple down the right field line to give the Great Danes the early 1-0. Rooney settled in after that, but his counterpart, Brendan Smith, was dominant through four inning, holding the Pride hitless.
Rooney cracked a bit in the sixth, allowing four ER on an overthrown pickoff throw and RBI hits from Marc Wangenstein (Connetquot 2016) and Pat Lagravinese (Smithtown East 2016).
The Pride got on the board in the sixth inning on a wild pitch that scored Steven Foster to cut the lead to 5-1.
Albany then extended their lead to 7-1 in the seventh inning on a two-run single by Kenny Hayden. At that moment, the game appeared to be out of reach. In the bottom of the seventh, however, the Pride put together a rally. Freshman Austin Gauthier ripped a two-run single to chase Smith. The reliever, Ray Weber (West Islip 2016) was greeted rudely by Friscia who muscled a two-run single to center to cut the lead to 7-5. Smith and Gauthier followed with RBI singles to tie the game at 7-7 and send the home crowd into a frenzy.
Connor Powers ripped a solo shot to right field in the ninth off closer Chris Weiss and it looked like that could be the difference in the game, but once again, the Pride answered in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single by Justin Smith to score Rob Weissheier.
Weiss did his job to hold the Great Danes at bay in the tenth to give his offense a chance to scratch a run across in the home half and that’s exactly what they did. With the victory, the Pride improved to 9-2 on the season.
It was an incredible game of baseball with many twists. From a pitcher’s duel with a potential first-round pick to an extra inning slug fest–this game did not disappoint the many fans who stayed the three-and-a-half hours.
Game 2:
Hofstra loses for the first time since February 23 to Dominic Savino (Smithtown East 2015) and the Albany Great Danes in game two 4-1 in seven innings.
After a walk-off victory in game one of a double header, Hofstra would fall to the Albany Great Danes 4-1 in seven innings. Hofstra ends their nine-game winning streak, which was the longest since 2013 and one off the program record with 10 in 2010.
“I thought Albany was a good opponent,” said Hofstra head coach John Russo. “I thought both starters were as good as we’ve seen all year.”
Albany starter Dominic Savino went seven innings in a complete-game effort, giving up only one run and striking out a season-high 15 hitters to get the win. Hofstra redshirt-senior Matt Weissheier finished his outing throwing five innings giving up three unearned runs striking out six and walking three.
“Weissheier threw really well. He got three unearned runs which is really tough luck. And, I thought we were matching [Albany] there. They just outplayed us,” said Russo.
Albany’s Patrick Lagravinese finished 2-2 with two RBI. Hofstra tallied four hits as a team leaving six runners on base.
The Pride got the scoring started in the second inning with a RBI single by junior Daniel Page scoring sophomore Justin Smith. That would be the only run Hofstra would score in game two. Albany threatened in the top of the fourth loading the bases, but left them stranded.
Albany would answer in the fifth as Albany’s Marc Wangsenstein roped a RBI double driving in Nick Kondo to tie the game. Patrick Lagravinese would follow to drive in two more on a two-RBI single making it a 3-1 Albany lead.
The Great Danes would add to the lead with a solo home run by Matt Codispoti in the sixth off of Hofstra junior Seamus Brazill to make it 4-1.
“We get a lot of help from a lot of new names that I think people are starting to see. We just didn’t play our best,” said Russo.
The Pride finish the series Sunday at noon with only one game as the rubber match. Hofstra will begin CAA play on March 23 when they visit UNCW for a three-game series.
