Conference tournament a goal for Pride

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Hofstra enjoyed a beautiful start to the 2015 baseball season. With its field blanketed in snow and ice, the Pride were busy opening the campaign in California and Hawaii where it played eight games over a 10-day stretch, capped by a doubleheader on Feb. 21.

“It was a special trip,” coach John Russo said. “It turned out better than what I pictured in my head. It was 80 degrees every day, and the guys got eight games under their belt against quality opponents.

“We’ve got a pretty young team,” he added. “We didn’t start out so hot against UCLA, which has pitchers throwing in the mid 90s. But we played better in the last game there and did some good things in Hawaii.”

The Pride come off a 20-24 campaign, including a 7-11 mark against Colonial Athletic Association rivals. It fell one win shy of qualifying for the CAA Tournament. “We never could get anything rolling last season,” Russo said. “We won once in every conference series, but we just couldn’t get enough momentum under our feet.”

Ranked seventh out of nine teams in the CAA preseason coaches poll, Hofstra (2-6) received a boost when shortstop Dalton Rouleau was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA after two injury plagued seasons. Since earning All-CAA First Team honors in 2012 (.328 batting average, five homers, 31 RBIs, 51 runs, 26 steals), Rouleau has appeared in just 22 games. “Having him back is huge,” Russo said of his leadoff batter who opened the season 10-for-30.

Rouleau is the leader of “Really solid infield,” Russo said. Sophomore second baseman Brad Witkowski was a CAA All-Rookie selection in 2014 after batting .330 with 10 RBIs in 28 games. He also had a .410 on-base percentage. Now he’s the No. 3 batter.

At the corners, the Pride returns a pair of starters in senior Brian McDonald at first, and sophomore David Leiderman at third.

McDonald made 39 starts a year ago and had four homers and 29 RBIs, including two grand slams. He’s a rock defensively—no errors in 190 chances—and even contributed on the mound with 11 appearances. In February, he pitched seven innings and went 5-for-19 at the plate.

Leiderman, a former standout at Bellmore-JFK High School, is swinging a hot stick out the gate after starting 41 times as a freshman and collecting nine multi-hit games. He went 11-for-30 (.367) at the dish in February.

Junior Ryan Donovan wields a big lefty bat and swatted four homers and drove in 19 runs last season. Senior Brett Johnson, a transfer from TCU, will bolster the infield upon his return from a broken foot suffered in the opener at UCLA when he was hit by a pitch in his second Hofstra at-bat. “He’s looking at four-to-six weeks from the time of the injury,” Russo said.

Catcher Chris Weiss is one of a number of freshmen off to an impressive start. Though Weiss, out of Longwood High School in Suffolk County, had zero experience behind the plate Russo felt it was important enough to try him there and get his bat into the lineup. “For someone who’s never caught before, he’s doing a tremendous job,” said Russo, who also has freshman Niko Hagerty and sophomore Chris Hardardt as catching options.

There’s no shortage of youth and talent in the outfield. Freshman Steven Foster was in a zone throughout the West Coast trip and went 11-for-28 (.393) with four steals, including a four-hit game in a victory over Hawaii on Feb. 20. He’s starting in center. Heavily recruited Mat Annunziata is batting in the clean-up spot and leads the Pride in RBIs with seven. The freshman left fielder also has a four-hit game. In right, freshman Jake Fallon, who opened 5-for-16, and senior speedster Eric Ferguson are splitting time.

The pitching staff is starting to take shape, Russo said, after losing reliable starter Dave Jesch to Tommy John Surgery. Jesch will take a 9-4 career record into 2016. Junior Chris Bonk, who last year went 10-1 for Garden City CC in Kansas, split his first two decisions with the Pride. He’s slated to be the No. 1, followed by junior Alec Eisenberg and either freshman Adam Heidenfelder, of MacArthur High School, or senior Nick Kozlowski. Russo said he’s going “closer by committee.” Junior Brendan Mulligan and senior Kevin Weissheier picked up saves against Hawaii.

Each of Hofstra’s first eight scheduled East Coast games postponed due to weather.