Final: Hofstra 5, UNCW 3
WP: John Rooney
S: Chris Weiss pic.twitter.com/UkrMPnd1OU— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 23, 2018
Friday night baseball under the lights in the south. That is college baseball at its finest. Tonight it was an up-and-coming teams from the northeast, though, that stole the spotlight.
The red-hot Hofstra Pride (10-4) defeated UNC-Wilmington (14-7) by the score of 5-3, with the go-ahead hit coming in the eighth inning by sophomore Rob Weissheier to score Teddy Cillis.
In front of dozens of MLB scouts, Hofstra’s ace LHP John Rooney out dueled the reigning CAA Pitcher of the Year, Alex Royalty. Rooney went seven innings, allowing 3 ER on four hits, two walks with seven strikeouts to improve his program-record of career strikeouts to 206.
Hofstra took an early 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Devon Jeffreys to score Vinnie Costello.
The Seahawks answered back in the home half of the second inning on a solo shot by Mason Berne on a 90-MPH fastball. They added a run in the third inning on an RBI single by Zack Canada on a playable ball through the left side. Berne continued his monstrous day in the fourth inning inning when he smacked a solo shot over 390 feet to right-center field.
Rooney settled in after that, and his offense backed him with a two-run shot by Costello to left field to tie it up.
Tremendous outing by John Rooney tonight who showed he can dig deep and shut down a top team pic.twitter.com/LR3ILP7XPX
— Vinny Messana (@V_Messana) March 24, 2018
He was able to get through the seventh inning, keeping the Seahawks at bay and allowing his team the opportunity to take the lead. That’s exactly what they did in the eighth inning. Cillis led off with a double to deep left-center, just missing a solo shot, but Weissheier drove him in with a bloop single to right field.
Rooney’s day was done, he gave way to closer Chris Weiss. He continued his lights out season with a six-out save, striking out six batters for his fourth save of the season. He sat 90-91 MPH with his fastball.
It was a big victory for the Pride, who continue their great play into CAA play. They are scheduled to play a double header tomorrow beginning at 12pm, although the forecast is calling for steady rain all day beginning around 1pm.
Matt Weissheier is expected to get the ball as the Pride attempt to win the series.
