Hofstra baseball gearing up for key CAA series

As the Hofstra baseball team prepares itself for a critical three-game Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) series with William & Mary this weekend coming off six straight conference losses, the Pride got some confidence Wednesday afternoon with a 12-10 win over Long Island rival Stony Brook. While the pitching was a struggle for much of the game, the Pride bats exploded with 16 hits to rally from a 6-3 deficit one day after beating Army 11-9. 

After the win at University Field head baseball coach Patrick Anderson said he approaches midweek non-conference games with the theme of trying to get his players the necessary experience for CAA action.

“We’re just trying to fill innings and get some experience and hopefully get a win on top of it,” said Anderson, whose team improved to 12-20 with the win over Stony Brook to exceed last year’s win total with 17 games remaining on the schedule. “I just really feel that today’s win and yesterday’s win as well is going to allow us to be able to compete as much as possible going into the conference."

Hofstra began the began the CAA slate with a sweep at Northeastern before getting swept at Georgia State and home against Virginia Commonwealth this past weekend. Trying to end the six game conference slide will be freshman pitcher David D’Errico, who will start game one versus William & Mary Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. The 6’0 righty, who was a First team All-Rhode Island selection as a junior and senior at North Kingstown High School, is 3-2 and is third on the Pride in strikeouts with 20.

“He is a hard nosed kid,” said Anderson of D’Errico, who also lettered in football for four years in high school. “He is just a competitor.”