Charleston, SC - The Hofstra duo of
Zach Bailey and
Kevin Bruggeman were huge on Sunday as the pair carried the Pride baseball team past Charleston, 5-4, in the final game of the series at Patriots Point.
Bailey batted 3-4 at the plate and had four of the Pride's five RBIs in the contest, while Bruggeman tallied three hits in the game and scored a run. In addition, both made key defensive plays as Bailey had an unassisted double play in the second inning, while Bruggeman threw out a runner at third in the eighth inning.
The Pride got more dependable starting pitching from
Brad Camarda as he scattered 11 hits over 6.2 innings of work in earning his third win of the season.
Hofstra upped its record to 11-19 and 6-9 in Colonial Athletic Association play. Charleston fell to 18-13 and 9-6 in the league.
After three innings of scoreless play, Bailey got it started in the fourth as he singled to right to bring home
Anthony D'Onofrio with the game's first run.
Hofstra would look to break the game open in the fifth inning as Bruggeman singled up the middle to get the inning going. A
Brian Morrell single put two runners on and the Pride would load the bases as
Santino Rosso walked.
Ryan Morash would plate the Pride's second run of the game with a single to left and then Bailey had the biggest hit of the day as he doubled down the right field line to clear the bases and make it a 5-0 Hofstra lead.
Charleston got three back in the bottom of the fifth with JT Marr bringing home the third run with a sacrifice fly to right.
The Cougars closed the deficit to one run in the seventh as Marr doubled before Luke Wood singled him home.
Mike McKenna would come in to relieve Camarda and he closed the door on any more potential Charleston runs.
Michael O'Hanlon worked a scoreless ninth to pick up his fifth save of the season. He had two strikeouts.
Marr and Cam Dean both had three hits for Charleston with each also scoring a run. Marr also drove in a run in the game.
Hofstra is back in action on Tuesday when it hosts St. John's at 3 p.m.
NOTES
- Hofstra is now 11-18 all-time against Charleston. The teams are 3-3 against each other over the past two seasons.
- The three-hit day was Bailey's second of the season as he went 3-4 against Delaware on March 11. Bruggeman has four games of three hits or more this season, including a season-high four versus Stony Brook on April 1.
- The four RBIs by Bailey marked a new career-high as he previously had three on a pair of occasions, most recently at Florida Gulf Coast on February 18, 2023.
- Camarda threw 122 pitches in today's outing after a complete game 121-pitch performance in his last appearance, a 4-0 win over Stony Brook, on April 2.
