Kissimmee, FL - Hofstra starter Michael James threw a gem, allowing six hits over seven scoreless innings, but Pittsburgh broke through with a run in the eighth inning and took a 1-0 victory Friday night at Osceola County Stadium as part of the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational.

Hofstra slipped to 1-4 with the loss while the Panthers improved to 4-3 on the young season.

James turned in a career-long performance and struck out five batters with no walks in the no decision. The Panthers rallied in the bottom of the eighth as Cole MacLaren drew a leadoff walk off of Mike Murray (0-1) and after an infield pop out, David Yanni doubled off of Kyle Skidmore to knock in the game's lone run. Pitt could have had a big inning, loading the bases with one out before Skidmore escaped the jam with an infield pop out and a ground ball out.

Chase Smith (1-0), the last of four Pittsburgh pitchers, earned the win after throwing 1 1/3 innings of no-hit relief.

Jimmy Joyce (2-4) and Austin Gauthier (2-3) were the offensive stars for the Pride, combing for four of Hofstra's five hits. Anthony D'Onofrio had the other hit, his first career doubles. Yanni and MacLaren each finished with two hits on the night for Pittsburgh.

Hofstra will be back in action Saturday with a pair of games. The Pride faces Central Michigan at 12 p.m. and Saint Peter's at 4:30 p.m. Both games will be at Osceola County Stadium.

Notes:
-The top of the Hofstra order – D'Onofrio, Joyce and Gauthier – accounted for all five Hofstra hits.
-The teams combined to leave 18 runners on base (Pitt 10, Hofstra 8).
-Hofstra is now 1-2 all-time versus Pittsburgh.
-James' previous high in innings pitched was 4.0.