HEMPSTEAD, NY - With two consecutive rained out weekends, the Hofstra University baseball club opened their 2009 conference season with an 11-9 win in the opener Saturday, but bats fell asleep in games 2 and 3 as Sacred Heart's starting pitching was too much for the pride to handle as they lost 5-1 and 22-5, respectively. Rich Meoli led the pride in hitting for the weekend, going 5 for 10 with two doubles and 5 RBI. Meoli was close to knocking a two run home run in the 5th inning of game 1. Meoli's defense was also a factor in the Pride's win in game 1, as he made a game saving pick to end the game on a low throw by third basemen Lenny Rutledge.

      This week the Pride must rebound against Rider and 2008 Conference Champion New York University. NYU eliminated the Pride from postseason contention in the final game of the 2008 conference season with a 10-3 win. "NYU is a great team and they really showed it last season," said President Rich Fiore, "They came in to that final weekend and really fired on all cylinders. They are an opportunistic team. If you make any mistakes against them they'll make you pay."

      Fiore hopes the outcome is different this year, not only because Hofstra is improved in talent, but also in preparation and work ethic. "This is a much more prepared team this year," Fiore said, "Being more talented than another team doesn't mean anything. You need to go out and make the plays. We learned from that weekend that if you don't make the plays and give your opponents extra outs, you lose. It's baseball."

      NYU comes in with a 2-2 record, also having lost two of three this past weekend. NYU was also awarded a forfeit victory from a game scheduled earlier in the year.

      The Pride's pitching staff is also looking to rebound from last weekend and find their groove. Starters Joey Comunale, Tom Scopelitis, and John DeLeo all pitched "winnable" games, but are much better than their stats showed. In the three game series, Hofstra's starting pitching combined for a 6.53 ERA in 15 innings of work. Once again, the Pride will look for Scopelitis's lead and experience against NYU to set the tone in Game 1. Scopelitis was 1-1 against NYU in 2008 with a 1.62 ERA and 14 strikeouts in 13 innings pitched.

      Hofstra will use a four man rotation this weekend. Joey Comunale and Brian Adler will start games two and three respectively, and John DeLeo will start the Friday matchup against Rider, a makeup conference game from March 14. The pitching staff will also be stronger as Adler, Eric Murphy, Mark Medeiros, and Matt Farra were all out for the Sacred Heart series and will be back in action this weekend against Rider and NYU.

     In other action this week, Cabrini visits Rider University and first place UConn travels to Sacred Heart.

     All games will be played at University Field in Hempstead, NY. First pitch is set for 2PM Friday against Rider and 12PM Saturday against NYU

      Hofstra University is a member of District II of the National Club Baseball Association, along with New York University, Rider University, Cabrini College, Sacred Heart University and the University of Connecticut.