Hofstra
College Power Rankings – First Edition
Well, we waited long enough to kick off the Power Rankings season. But, there really was no choice since LIU didn’t open up until this past week. Now that everyone is in action, it’s only right for the first edition. We will just stick to Division-I schools, since Queens hasn’t started so I can’t really analyze them yet and none of the Division-III schools have begun. Without further ado, here’s how the local schools stack up. 1.Fordham (Record: 7-1, Trending UP) The Rams won two of three from Farleigh-Dickinson this weekend, and the loss was a 16-inning marathon that happened to be the second longest game in school history! On Friday, they combined to throw a 1-hit shutout in a 9-0 win with Matt Mikulski showing why he’s one of the top southpaws around....
Saturday College Recap Powered by Orlin & Cohen
Yesterday was a record-breaking way for one local program – who couldn’t stop scoring runs. Another team set a record for a marathon day while another had their game cancelled due to COVID protocols. Welcome to life in 2021. Here’s how the action went down: Division-I Hofstra split a double header with Sacred Heart, but we are going to focus on Game 2 because it was the record-breaking performance. They posted a remarkable 27 runs in that one. They scored in every inning, here’s their breakdown of runs in each inning 1 1 6 5 7 4 2 1 X They amassed 24 hits and drew 12 walks. Here’s their top performers Ryan Morash: 4-for-6, 4 runs, 2 RBI Anthony D’Onofrio: 3-for-5, 3 runs, 5 RBI Austin Gauthier: 3-for-4, 3 runs, 2 RBI Nick Marrero: 3-for-3, 4 runs, 4 RBI,...
Hofstra Scores 8 Unanswered Runs, Defeats Sacred Heart 8-5
Final: Hofstra 8, Sacred Heart 5 WP: Faello S: John Mikolaicyk pic.twitter.com/p1MyK5fsIs — Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 12, 2021 The jubilance of playing their home opener in March on a beautiful 66 degree, sunny afternoon quickly turned into trepidation as the Hofstra Pride fell behind Sacred Heart, 5-0, in the second inning on Friday at University Field. Sacred Heart managed to score their first run on a fielder’s choice, they added two more on a two-run double by Julian Pedrouzo, a fourth on an error by Ryan Rue and a fifth on a double by Austin Markman. At that moment, it did appear that the game was firmly in doubt. But Hofstra made a move to the bullpen, calling on RHP Mark Faello (Plainview JFK 2018) to put out the fire in a precarious situation with a runner on...
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,” ...
