Towson, MD-Senior Ethan Paquette belted his team-leading 10th home run to cap a 5-RBI afternoon in leading Hofstra to a 17-8 victory over Towson in a Colonial Athletic Association matchup on Saturday at Schuerholz Park.
Paquette (West Burke, VT) finished 4-for-6 with three runs scored. Fellow Senior Matt Prokopowicz (Massapequa, NY) went 1-for-4 with two runs scored in collecting his 248th career hit, moving into a tie with Ricky Caputo (2003-06) for the most in Hofstra history.
Senior John Kenny (Franklin Square, NY) also finished with five RBIs and three hits. Every Hofstra starter collected at least one base hit or scored a run.
Prokopowicz's milestone and Paquette's power lifted the Pride's record to 16-21-1 and 7-7 in conference play. Hofstra shrugged its loss on Friday in which it collected only four hits against the Tigers to pound out 20 hits in evening the three-game series that concludes Sunday.
Towson's Chris Wychock, Steve Yarsinsky and Austin Harclerode each hit a home run. But the Tigers needed eight pitchers to finish the game in falling to 16-29 and 10-10.
Hofstra surged to a 4-0 first inning lead. Junior Mike Walraven (Thompson Ridge, NY) lined a RBI double down the rightfield line after back-to-back walks started the game. Paquette followed with a three-run home run to left center off starter Mike Bronakoski.
Paquette's blast chased Bronakoski (2-3) from the game after four batters and zero outs. Towson answered back with two runs in the bottom of the first when Yarsinsky hit a two-run home run to left. His ninth home run cut Hofstra's lead to 4-2.
Freshman starter Jared Rogers (Flemington, NJ) capitalized on the early support and shrugged off the rough start. The right-hander gave up four runs in six innings, striking out four in improving to 4-6. Fellow freshman Cody Normand (North Kingstown, RI) pitched the final two innings to close out the win.
The Pride tacked on two more runs in the second and third innings. Freshman Matt Ford (Lansing, NY) scored a run off a fielder's choice and Walraven's sacrifice fly brought in another run.
Senior Elliot Hagburg (East Hanover, NJ) cracked a two-run double to left-center in the fourth against reliever Nate Curd, who allowed four runs in three innings after coming in for Bronakoski.
Towson scratched across one run in the fourth to make it 8-3 before Hofstra put the game out of reach with a six-run fifth inning rally. Charlie Cononie entered with two on and two outs and walked Prokopowicz to load the bases.
Cononie then hit Ford, marking the third hit batsman of the inning, to start the barrage. Walraven's bases loaded walk brought in the second run and capped the third baseman's three-RBI day. Sean Bertrand couldn't stem the damage coming into the bases loaded situation as Paquette greeted the reliever by lining a two-run single.
Kenny added a two-run single to finish the scoring, putting Hofstra ahead, 14-3. Kenny was the only Pride starter that did not score, though he finished 3-for-6.
Towson scored twice in the seventh and eighth innings. Wertz hit a leadoff home run in the seventh. Harclerode contributed a RBI single in the eighth, extending his hitting streak to 17 games.
Kenny quelled any thoughts of a comeback attempt when he pulled a two-run double down the rightfield line the ninth. The Pride registered a 20-hit game for the second time in its last three contests after a season-high 22-hit game versus New York Tech on Thursday.
Hofstra and Towson will conclude its series tomorrow with a 1 p.m. contest.
