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Fall Ball Series Powered By Dreams Training Facility: Hofstra University

by Trevor Dugan

Hofstra University returned to the CAA Conference Tournament in 2026 after posting a 14-16 conference record, good for third in the CAA North Division. With the majority of their starting lineup returning, Head Coach Frank Catalanotto expects his squad to take another step forward this season and compete for their second CAA conference championship in school history.

“Making the playoffs last year was great, we won a couple of games, gave ourselves a chance,” Catalanotto said. “But this year I expect this team to go further and to win the whole thing.”

Hofstra earned a pair of shutout playoff wins in 2026, crushing Charleston 13-0 before blanking perennial powerhouse Northeastern 6-0. The Pride went on to lose their next two playoff matchups, ultimately getting eliminated by the same Northeastern team they had just defeated. Team captain Michael Brown says his team is using that early exit as motivation heading into 2027. 

“I think we definitely have some unfinished business we want to take care of,” Brown said. “Now that we’ve been there, the guys who were there last year in the tournament have a chip on their shoulder. We want to go back out there and prove ourselves.” 

Seven out of nine players from the 2026 starting lineup are returning for Hofstra this season. Last season’s team leader in batting average Gabriel Melara will be leaned on once again at the top of the lineup. The Senior utility man turned in an excellent 2026 campaign, earning All-CAA second team honors after slashing .335/.429/.526 with six home runs. 

He will be joined at the top of the order by Junior catcher CJ Griggs. After starting 30 games as a freshman without recording a home run, Griggs burst onto the scene during his 2026 sophomore season, leading the Pride with nine round-trippers while batting .301 with a 1.034 OPS. 

The aforementioned shortstop and team captain Brown had himself a breakout year in 2026 as well, and will return for his Senior season as one of Hofstra’s most experienced bats. After batting .258 across his first two seasons with the Pride, Brown put up career highs in nearly every offensive category. His .314 batting average, .396 OBP and 37 RBI were all good for third on the team. Brown will be one of Hofstra’s leaders both on and off the field in 2027. 

Coach Catalanotto took over at Hofstra in 2022, winning a conference title in his first year with the Pride, and has now had enough time to build a roster full of players he recruited himself. He explained how things have changed since that huge freshmen class arrived on campus. 

“We had 19 freshmen come in a couple years ago, all really good players, but it was tough coaching that many freshmen,” Catalanotto said. “Now these guys are juniors. They’ve experienced the playoffs and know exactly how everything runs here. They’ve all matured and grown as far as baseball is concerned.”

One player who isn’t returning, and whose presence will be sorely missed, is last season’s staff ace Carlos Martinez. His team leading 3.30 ERA and 96 strikeouts across 76.1 innings pitched caught the attention of Major League scouts in 2026. Martinez was drafted in the fourth round of the MLB Draft, 118th overall, by the San Francisco Giants. A player of his caliber is difficult to replace, but Coach Catalanotto has faith his players can rise to the occasion. 

“We’re probably not going to have another Carlos,” Catalanotto said. “But we have some guys that can eat up innings and throw some zeros on the board.” 

St. Dominic graduate Matthew Cruz has transferred to Hofstra from Rutgers for his junior season and is a prime candidate to take charge as the Pride’s new ace. The hard throwing right-hander was a three time All-League player at St. Dominic’s, and has pitched against some of the country’s stiffest competition during his time at Rutgers, making appearances against USC, Indiana, UCLA, and more. 

“Matt Cruz is a dog, nothing phases him, he’s going straight at guys this whole entire Fall,” Junior catcher Nick Biddle said. “He just has that mentality, even when things don’t go right, nothing phases him.” 

Biddle mentioned another Hofstra arm he expects to be an important part of the rotation in 2027, fifth year right hander and team captain Russell Hunter. 

“I think we’ve got a lot of guys with experience. Losing Carlos is big, but I think Russell Hunter is going to take a big step,” Biddle said. “His stuff has looked electric and he has a good four pitch mix. He has the experience and has played with our program a long time.”                       

Under Coach Catalanotto, Hofstra typically doesn’t bring in large transfer classes. Catalanotto prefers to develop players from the time they are freshman, so that they have an understanding of the way his staff wants to do things. But there is one transfer who will be an important piece for the Pride in 2027 on the offensive side of the ball. 

Senior outfielder Ty Silva has transferred to Hofstra and is slated to be the team’s starting center fielder in 2027. The Las Vegas native spent his freshman year at USC, before spending his last two seasons at the JUCO powerhouse Central Arizona College. In 2026, he slashed an impressive .332/.452/.684, with 15 home runs and 51 runs scored in 58 games. He has the potential to be one of the CAA’s best all-around players in 2027. 

Hofstra has welcomed nine freshman newcomers to campus for the 2027 campaign, and several of them are already turning heads with their performances this Fall. Coach Catalanotto says there’s no reason to believe any one of them can’t contribute right away. 

“I’m not the type of head coach that says, ‘Oh, they’re freshmen, we’ll get to them in a year or two.’” Catalanotto said. “If these guys can help us win baseball games, we need to get them in there right away. And I think we have a few guys that will help us out.” 

Freshman RHP Tristan Hickis comes to campus from nearby Franklin Square, where he was an All-County star at Carey High School, posting a sub 2.00 ERA in both his junior and senior seasons. The 6’2 Hickis has his fastball in the mid-80s this fall and has shown good command of all his pitches. He has a strong chance to earn a consistent role in his first season with the Pride.        

6’0 RHP Linus Frederick arrives at Hofstra after a solid career at Northport High School where he earned All-County honors, and has impressed his coaches this Fall just as Hickis has. Coach Catalanotto mentioned both Frederick and Hickis as two freshman pitchers that he believes “are really going to help us out a lot.” 

Perhaps the most well known freshman arriving at Hofstra for 2027 is the two-way Clarke graduate Matt Kurz, who racked up the accolades during his impressive senior season in 2026. Kurz was a finalist for the Diamond Award. He was named AA Conference MVP, made the All-Nassau County team, and was MVP of the Bryan Bonin Grand Slam Challenge this past summer. Catalanotto is thrilled to have him at Hofstra. 

“I don’t know how much Kurz is going to pitch necessarily this year, but we like him in the outfield,” Catalanotto said. “He’s a great outfielder and he’s got a really good bat, so he’ll definitely see some time.” 

The Pride are also bringing in two freshmen who were named to the All-New York State team during their high school careers. Utility man Dylan Santucci of Syosset and RHP Zach Muir from Cortland both earned the elusive All-State nod at their respective schools, and will be two more names to watch in a very impressive Hofstra freshman class. 

Coach Catalanotto played 14 seasons in the MLB, recording over 1,000 career hits. He has won a conference title at both of his college coaching stops, winning his first with NYIT and leading them to the Division-II College World Series in 2019 before their baseball program was shockingly shut down. It’s safe to say he’s as experienced as they come as far as coaches go, and the way he runs his team reflects that. 

“My assistant coaches played professional baseball too, spending time in the minor leagues. The way we go about it, our practices are pro style practices,” Catalanotto said. “We all have the same thought processes when it comes to hitting and pitching, so we’re all on the same page, and it makes things easier when our athletes are all hearing the same voice, coming from all of us.”

Catalanotto lamented the recent shift in MLB philosophy towards emphasizing launch angles and velocity above all. He doesn’t want his team to follow that same route.

“We’re all about fundamentals, we feel like if we can throw strikes, make the routine play and not give extra outs, hit line drives and force the defense to make a play, we give ourselves a better chance to win baseball games,” Catalanotto said. “And at the end of the day, we want to give our players a chance to play at the next level, so we have to do things the right way.” 

Hofstra will kick off their 2027 season far from home, traveling to Kansas to take on the Wichita State Shockers on February 19. The Pride are well positioned to make their second straight trip to the CAA tournament this season. With most of last year’s production returning and some exciting new faces coming to campus, expect Hofstra to be back towards the top of the CAA standings once again.