Hempstead, NY – Kyle Skidmore turned in five innings of relief, allowing one run on four hits with a career-best seven strikeouts as Hofstra rallied from a 2-0 first inning deficit to defeat Long Island University, 9-5, in its home opener Wednesday at University Field. The Pride scored seven unanswered runs after falling behind in the first inning.

Hofstra snapped a three-game losing skid with the win and improved to 4-10 on the season. The Sharks slipped to 5-7 with the loss.

LIU wasted no time in getting on the board as leadoff batter Giovanni Ciaccio hit a home run to left center. Anthony Warneke followed with a single and would later come in to score on a two-out double from Carlton Hopper.

The Pride cut the deficit in half in the third; taking advantage of four LIU walks to score their first run on Ryan Morash's free pass. Hofstra then erupted for five runs in the fourth. An infield single by Kevin Bruggeman and a walk to Myles Mensah followed by a pair of wild pitches allowed a run to score to tie the game at two. Brian Goulard drove in the go-ahead run with an infield single. Another wild pitch on a swinging strikeout put runners on the corners. Rob Weissheier drove in the fourth Hofstra run of the day with another infield single and Morash delivered a two-run double to make it a 6-1 game.

Hofstra would tack on single runs in the fifth on a Santino Rosso RBI singles, the sixth on a steal of home by Goulard, and in the eighth on a solo home run from Goulard.

The Sharks would put up single runs in the sixth, eighth and ninth innings.

Skidmore (1-1) came on to start the second inning in relief of Hofstra starter Steven Boscia. The lefty gave up two singles, a double and a home run in his longest career outing. Seamus Brazill, Lucas Hall and Brad Camarda followed Skidmore before Jimmy Joyce came on in the ninth with the tying run on deck and got the final two outs for his first save.

Goulard was 2-3 with two RBIs and three runs scored. Morash drove in three runs on the day. Bruggeman had a three-hit day with two doubles and two runs scored. Weissheier also had a multi-hit day including a double.

Warneke had three hits to pace the Sharks. Patrick Clyne (0-1) took the loss in relief of starter Michael Andreoli, allowing six runs on five hits in 1 2/3 innings of work.

Notes:
-This marked the first meeting between Hofstra and LIU since the school combined its athletic programs.
-Hofstra has won its last four home openers.
-Bruggeman now has five doubles on the season.
-Morash has driven in six runs in his last three games.
-Alex Sica extended his hitting streak to four games.