by Joseph Langan
As opening weekend continues for the five local teams, only two have found themselves getting their first win of the season. While Stony Brook and Hofstra was able to get in the win column, three others enter Sunday looking to salvage a victory before they head back north.
Here’s how it went down:
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Division-I:
Hofstra and Purdue battled for the lead early in game one of today’s double header. Trailing 5-4 going into the top of the 6th, Hofstra’s offense exploded, scoring 7 runs in the top of the frame giving them the 11-5 lead. The Pride would only expand upon that lead and go on to win by a score of 13-6. Hofstra’s top of the lineup would provide a huge amount of the offensive production, accounting for 7 RBI’s and 8 hits on the day.
Leading 4-1 going into the 7th inning, Hofstra seemed on their way to a doubleheader sweep against Purdue. Unfortunately for the Pride the Boilermakers offense came alive, striking for 6 runs in the bottom of the 8th thanks to the grand slam by right fielder Mike Simmington. Purdue would end up shutting the door with middle reliever Jackson Smeltz and defeat Hofstra in game two by a score of 10-4.
Hofstra had some great offensive production on the day:
- Anthony D’Onofrio, sophomore from Wantagh, had a great two games, going 5-for-8 and driving in 4 runs out of the number three spot in the line-up.
- Junior Austin Gauthier followed up his big game yesterday by going 5-for-9 and driving in 3.
- Lucas Hall, grad student from Seaford, recorded the victory with .2 innings of relief in the fifth.
The two teams will be back in action on Sunday at 12 pm for the series finale.
Stony Brook, coming off a tough loss on opening day suffered another one in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader. Getting shut-out 6-0, the Seawolves were in jeopardy of dropping their first series in only day two of the season. Going into game two Stony Brook seemed to find their groove, striking first in the 5th inning with a pair of RBIs by Shane Pardine and Cristian Montes. Texas State would end up tying the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the 6th setting up for a dramatic ending. With late game heroics, freshman Ellis Schwartz drove in the game winning run and giving Stony Brook their first win of the season.
After the loss for Stony Brook in game one, these guys came out hungry in game two to get the first win of the season:
- Evan Giordano built off his game one success, going 4-for-7 on the day and impressing many fans.
- Senior Chris Hamilton lead his team in game two with a 3-for-5 performance and scoring a run in the process.
- Freshman Ellis Schwartz’s late inning base hit led Stony Brook to its first win of the season.
- Senior closer Brandon Bonnano tossed two scoreless innings accumulation three strikeouts and his first save of the season.
Stony Brook and Texas State close out their series tomorrow afternoon at 1 pm.
St. John’s rallied back from a five-run decit early in the game, cutting Georgia State’s lead to only two runs going into the 6th. The Red Storm’s rally ended there though, coming up short 7-5 against a strong Panther’s offense. Brandon Hill’s two-run homer in the bottom of the 3rd ended up being the difference maker for Georgia State.
After the defeat last night, St. John’s had some positives come out of Saturday’s game:
- Carson Bartels gave St. Johns a chance out of the number two spot in the lineup. Going 2-for-4, driving in one run, and scoring once on the day.
- Jake Lazzaro (Oceanside 2019) made his first collegiate start and made the most of it – going 3-for-5 with a double and a run scored.
- Justin Folz, the lone man with an RBI in yesterday’s game drove in another, going 2-for-4 and scoring a run.
- Sunny Fauci held the score right where it was to give the Red Storm a chance at a comeback. Throwing two scoreless innings to end the game.
St. Johns takes on a tough opponent in No.19 Georgia Tech tomorrow at 1 pm.
LIU came to the field prepared to avenge their shutout loss from the night before. Unfortunately, their bats couldn’t get the job done against USC Upstate’s pitchers. The Sharks squandered a great start from sophomore Joshua Loeschorn who threw five innings without giving up an earned run and was slapped with the no-decision. LIU hitters only produced one run, the other coming off a wild pitch in their 5-2 loss against University of South Carolina Upstate.
Despite the tough loss there was some bright spots for the Sharks:
- Sophomore right fielder Giovanni Ciaccio went 2-for-4 and scored one of LIU’s two lone runs on the season.
- Joshua Leoschorn was the biggest bright spot, tossing five innings of three hit ball and giving up no earned runs.
LIU closes out their series against USC Upstate tomorrow at 1pm.
Fordham, who got steamrolled by Florida International on opening day, didn’t fare too well in game two either. In a game pushed back due to rain, it certainly didn’t make a difference for Rams’ fans. In the 8-0 shutout loss Fordham only tallied five hits and left 10 men on base. Going into their final game against FIU being outscored 28-7, Fordham needs to find a way to suppress their offense and wake up the bats to have a chance.
The lone bright spot in the lineup for the Fordham these past two games has been senior left fielder, Jake Baker. Over the past two games against FIU Baker has gone 4-for-6 and has provided some consistency at the top of the lineup.
The Rams look to get their first win of the season in the series finale against Florida International tomorrow at 12 pm.
