Hofstra baseball to travel to Florida State and Miami in 2011

The 2011 Hofstra baseball schedule is still being finalized but early indications are it will be one filled with heavy hitters including games against national powers Florida State and Miami.

Hofstra baseball head coach Patrick Anderson said for the second year in a row the Pride will travel early in the season to Dick Howser Stadium for a series against Florida State, which made the College World Series last year and was ranked 13th in the final Baseball America rankings. In May Hofstra will return to the Sunshine State during a bye week from Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play to face the University of Miami, who was ranked 14th in the final Baseball America poll. Hofstra's non conference slate will also include early season road trips to Florida Atlantic, which received votes in the final Baseball America poll, and Norfolk State, according to Anderson.

"We've got some pretty good horses on this schedule," said Anderson. "We've got some really good competition."

The official Hofstra baseball 2011 schedule will be released this fall. Hofstra finished 2010 20-28-1 and 10-14 in the CAA.

Former Hofstra women's soccer star Diane Caldwell competing for W-League title while training for Pride field hockey season

 Courtesy Hofstra Athletics Communications

Former Hofstra women’s soccer star Diane Caldwell is keeping plenty busy this summer on the pitch and with a field hockey stick. As Caldwell gets set to play field hockey for Hofstra this fall while attending graduate school, the Balbriggan, Ireland native has continued to pursue soccer by playing for the Hudson County Quickstrike Lady Blues semi-professional club who will be in the USL W-League semifinals on July 29.

Caldwell, who played soccer for Hofstra from 2006 to 2009 and is now pursuing masters in physical education, has been spending her summer thus far housed with her Hudson County teammates at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, N.Y. In the midst of taking part intense daily practices and workouts with her W-League squad, Caldwell has also found the time to practice her technical and tactical field hockey skills each day. When Hofstra field hockey head coach Kathy De Angelis agreed to let Caldwell play semi-professional soccer this summer with the Quickstrike it was understood that field hockey would not be far from her mind.

“When I was leaving she said to me ‘if I see you over summer you better have your stick on you at all times,” said Caldwell, who last played field hockey at Mount Temple Comprehensive School in Dublin. “Over spring I really did try and work on improving my game and that definitely helped me having that spring under my belt.”

“We were very clear to the fact that if we were giving her this opportunity that she put a real commitment to playing as much hockey while also playing soccer,” said De Angelis. “It is really about the perseverance to be a dual athlete at that level.”

Caldwell, who has competed for the Ireland national soccer team, describes her experience with the Quickstrike as the highest level of the sport she has ever played and is hoping it can someday lead to an opportunity to play professionally in the WPS. If the Quickstrike manage to make it to the W-League championship on July 31 in Santa Clarita, Calif. Caldwell will have a chance to play before a national television audience on Fox Soccer Channel. The dual athlete will then turn her attention solely to field hockey when the Hofstra sticklers begin pre-season practice on Aug. 11 in preparation for the season opener on Aug. 28 against Boston University.

Former Hofstra men's lacrosse player Kevin Warne named to Maryland coaching staff

Former Hofstra men's lacrosse player Kevin Warne will be roaming the sidelines at the University of Maryland next year after he was named to the Terrapins coaching staff today.

New Maryland men's lacrosse head coach John Tillman announced the hiring of Warne as one of his assistant coaches in a press release issued today by the Atlantic Coast Conference school. Warne, a 2000 Hofstra graduate, previously coached under Tillman at Harvard for three seasons where his primary responsibility was overseeing the Crimson defense. 

Tillman, who was hired to replace longtime Maryland head coach Dave Cottle, said of Warne in the press release, "His passion and charisma are only matched by his knowledge of the game and I look forward to seeing him coach our defensive unit." 

Warne, who played at Hofstra from 1995-1999, has also had assistant coaching stints at UMBC, Delaware and the U.S Merchant Marine Academy. In his Hofstra playing career Warne was a two-time All-America East selection and in his senior year was named an honorable mention All-American after leading the Flying Dutchmen to the NCAA Quarterfinals.

Several Hofstra baseball players compete in collegiate summer leagues

Several Hofstra baseball players are keeping active this summer competing in amateur collegiate leagues across North America in preparation for the 2011 season.

More than a dozen Hofstra players can be seen this summer on teams that compete in the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League, the Atlantic League, New York Collegiate Baseball League, Coastal Plains League and Prospect League. Hofstra baseball also has a presence north of the border with Pride hurlers David D'Errico and Matt Watkins pitching for the Okotoks Dawgs of the Western Major Baseball League in Alberta, Canada.

Hofstra men's soccer trio represent Puerto Rico at Central American and Caribbean Games

Three Hofstra men’s soccer players are getting quality preparation for the upcoming season and a unique opportunity at the same time by competing with the Puerto Rican under 21 National Team this month at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games.

The Hofstra trio of senior midfielder Steven Ehrichs, sophomore defender A.J. Laza and sophomore midfielder Stephen Barea are now in Puerto Rico gearing up for the start of the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games, which kicks off on July 17 and concludes on August 1. The Pride players were chosen to the pool in February after a weeklong tryouts and evaluating process in January.  The Hofstra triumvirate arrived in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico on June 25 and has been practicing three times a day in addition to holding 8 a.m. workouts in preparation for the games.

“Practices are real intense,” said Barea, who was named to the Colonial Athletic Association All-Rookie team last year as a freshman. “The coaches try and keep us moving.”