Hofstra
What’s On Tap For This Week?
This week will start to actually feel like baseball season for two reasons It’s slated to be above 50 degrees from Tuesday through Friday. Seven local teams will be in action Before this week, it’s only been a handful of teams to even get on the field let alone have more than one game at a time. So this will be fun. We used to do the “What’s On Tap” every Monday back in 2015-’16, but it just got too tedious when there’s 15 teams playing multiple times per week. Also, I replaced it with the Weekly Power Rankings, which I haven’t started up yet. Here’s the local teams that will be action this week. Tuesday: Fordham @ Stony Brook 2pm Felician @ Molloy 3:30pm Wednesday: Sacred Heart @ Fordham 3pm LIU @ Farleigh-Dickinson 1pm Thursday: Felic...
Luke Napolitano Drives in 7 Runs as Hofstra Salvages DH Split With La Salle
It should’ve been a double header sweep, but the Hofstra Pride salvaged a split with La Salle on Monday thanks to a heroic performance by redshirt freshman Luke Napolitano – as he went 4-for-5 with 7 RBI in a 14-5 victory in the night cap to improve to 4-2 on the young season. Game 1 The Pride could not have gotten out to a quicker 1-0 lead in the top of the first. The red-hot Austin Gauthier led off with a solo shot to right field. In the third inning, it was Gauthier again who ripped an RBI double to score Kevin Bruggeman and open up a 2-0 lead. Jimmy Joyce was on the mound and he retired the first 7 batters of the game – including striking out the side in the second inning. He allowed his first base runner on a single by Connor Coolahan but he was erased attempting to ...
Monday Morning Thoughts
So I usually do Power Rankings each week during the college baseball season, but it’s not really a smart idea to do that (yet) in my opinion until all the teams start up. Even out of the Division-I programs, Fordham and LIU have not played a game yet. Fordham was scheduled to start last week but due to COVID cases in the school, athletics paused for 2 weeks. They are now scheduled to open up this Friday against NJIT at 12. LIU is scheduled to open up a week from Wednesday against Farleigh-Dickinson, a game I will be monitoring considering FDU has three LI natives (Tommy Verga , Mike Veit and TJ Werner). This weekend, we will get our first taste of a Division-II program (Molloy) and Division-III (St. Joseph’s). The frustrating part for me is that since most teams are only playin...
Hofstra Splits Season-Opening DH At Seton Hall
Rob Weissheier CRUSHES a go-ahead 2-R HR to left and Hofstra takes a 3-2 lead in the seventh pic.twitter.com/yCH76mkziI — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) February 21, 2021 When I saw Hofstra‘s schedule updated to include a season opening DH against Seton Hall on 2/21, I immediately changed my plans. Nevermind that it was a 2 hr, 15 minute drive to the game and the weather was flirting with below freezing. So with a 12pm start in South Orange, NJ I hopped in the car and made the drive and arrived just after first pitch. Game 1 Hofstra came out of the gates firing, scoring two runs in the top of the first on a wild pitch that scored Austin Gauthier, who led off the game with a double, and on a sac fly from Brian Goulard that scored Anthony D’Onofrio. It appeared the Pride wo...
Three Hofstra Players Selected to Preseason All-CAA Team
The Colonial Athletic Association released its Preseason All-CAA team this week, and it included three Hofstra players – CF Anthony D’Onofrio (Wantagh 2018), 1B Robert Weissheier (Kellenberg 2016) and SS Austin Gauthier. While Hofstra was off to a poor 4-10 record to begin the 2020 season, it was not due to their offense. They hit .302 as a team, which was 27th in the nation. If not for three one-run losses against New Mexico, the record would’ve looked a whole lot different. The offense is reason for optimism yet again. Gauthier was off to an amazing start with a .411 average, 6 doubles, one triple, three HRs, 11 RBI and 20 runs scored. More impressively, he led the league with a .515 OBP and .714 SLG. The senior has a legitimate chance to play professional baseball afte...
Fall Ball Series Powered by East Coast S & P: Hofstra University
Special thanks to East Coast Strength & Performance for sponsoring this year’s Fall Ball Series. Make sure to check out their website by clicking here. Hard throwing RHP John Mikolaicyk transferred from Herkimer CC sitting 90-92 up to 94 with a sharp slider pic.twitter.com/S5LWjYgsRa — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) October 9, 2020 There is a direct correlation between continuity and winning baseball games at the collegiate level. Teams that return their impact players from the previous years typically improve on their success. Additionally, in this environment of advanced stats and OPS (on-base + slugging percentage), teams that outslug their opponents will typically perform well in the aggregate over a long season. Small samples sizes can cause some turbulent results but ...
Chris Mott Transfers to Hofstra
Hofstra improved their pitching staff this week with the addition of RHP Chris Mott (Sachem East 2015). The grad student was off to an outstanding start to the 2020 season for the defending East Region champs. He compiled a record of 3-1 with a 1.46 ERA and 29 strikeouts over 24.1 IP. Opposing batters hit only .165 against him. In 2019, he was a key cog in the Bears rotation as they made a historic run to the Division-II College World Series. Mott has been resilient in his career. He was originally committed to Dowling College, but the school shut its doors. He then attended Suffolk CC in 2017 before transferring to NYIT in 2018 during the school’s first season in the ECC. He struggled mightily that year, compiling a 10.32 ERA over 11.1 IP. He turned himself into one of the more depe...
Transcript from IG Live With Jimmy Joyce
(Hofstra junior pitcher Jimmy Joyce on the mound against New Mexico on March 7, 2020. Joyce earned the final save of the season before the NCAA’s cancellation. PHOTO CREDIT: HOFSTRA ATHLETICS- TIM MARCH) Vinny Messana (VM): I just wanted to address Section VIII and Section XI canceling the remainder of the 2020 season, which was not a shock but not what we wanted to hear. My heart goes out to all the seniors that lost your senior year. [Jimmy], do you still keep in touch with any of your former Wantagh teammates? Jimmy Joyce (JJ): I keep in touch with all of them honestly. The whole 2016 team, we talk at least once a week, still. That’s what memories will do for you. VM: At least you guys in college got to have a little bit of a season. The high school guys obviously– don’t want to p...
OTD: John Rooney Stays Undefeated, Hofstra Rolls Past Delaware
Behind junior John Rooney’s complete-game shutout, the Hofstra Pride defeated the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens 9-0 in Hofstra’s CAA home opener. The win snapped a three-game losing streak and a seven-game losing streak against Delaware. “I thought it was literally a complete game played by us,” said Hofstra head coach John Russo. “I don’t know if we’ve played a better game.” Rooney needed just 102 pitches, allowing two hits and one walk on the day striking out 11. With that, Rooney lowered his season ERA to 1.29, and improved his record to 5-0. Junior catcher Matt Siedem went 3-4 with a double, a solo home run, three RBI and a stolen base. Siedem’s stolen base and home run were both his first of the season and fell a triple shy of the cycle. “That’s the first home run I’ve hit in college,” ...
OTD: Nine-Run Sixth Powers St. John’s to 21st Win
(Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on April 2, 2017.) When you’re hot, you’re hot. The St. John’s Red Storm overpowered the Hofstra Pride, coming away with a 14-3 win for their ninth consecutive victory. “It feels good when you win, it’s nice to see our guys start swinging the bat in the middle of the game.” Head Coach Ed Blankmeyer said after the win. “Another game, another step.” The Red Storm took the lead early on a single from Jesse Berardi scoring Michael Donadio. Later in the game the Johnnies tacked on another run on a single from Anthony Brocato, scoring Troy Dixon from second. The Pride scored their only three runs in the top of the fifth inning. They scored on an error, wild pitch and an RBI single by Nick Bottari to score Steven Foster. The Red Storm came up...
On This Day in Axcess History: Mark Faello Fires No-Hitter in Plainview’s 10-0 Victory
Mark Faello on his no-hitter (6-innings) against Herricks pic.twitter.com/x9o8kGK80X — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 28, 2018 (Editor’s Note: This article was originally posted on March 28th, 2018.) It wasn’t EXACTLY the real deal, but it was close enough. Reigning Diamond Award winner Mark Faello fired a six inning no-hitter in Plainview JFK‘s 10-0 mercy-rule victory over Herricks on Tuesday afternoon. He struck out 12 batters and walked three. Last season, he no-hit the same team while compiling 19 strikeouts. The game was much closer than the score would indicate, actually, for much of the game. Faello smacked a two-run HR over the center field fence in the 1st inning to give himself an early 2-0 lead. The score would stay that way and Herricks was able to make Faello...
Andrew Mundy On The Impact Of The NCAA’s Decision On His Career
Andrew Mundy is a RHP for Hofstra University and a 2015 graduate of St. John the Baptist. He, like thousands of other college players across the country had their season cut short. While the NCAA has announced they will grant them another year – that decision is not that easy for a fifth year senior. The following words are his own.) First and foremost, I would like to thank everyone at Axcess Baseball and Vinny Messana for granting me the opportunity to write this piece. With everything that has happened within the last week, it is a tremendous opportunity for me to gain some closure with my playing career unexpectedly ending early. My baseball journey is much like any other baseball player out there. You wake up one morning and your parents hand you a ball and glove and take you o...
