Columbia, S.C. – The No. 24 Hofstra Softball team heads to South Carolina, the No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament, this weekend for NCAA Regionals. The Pride opens regional play against Liberty at 5 p.m. on Friday at Carolina Softball Stadium at Beckham Field. The regional tournament is double-elimination format, with the winner of the region advancing to play the winner of the Arizona State regional.
 
All games in the regional will be broadcast live on ESPN3. For Hofstra games only, WRHU Radio Hofstra University will also provide an audio-only broadcast on 88.7 FM in Hempstead and the surrounding areas and on the Hofstra portal. Links to game coverage can be found on this page and the Hofstra Softball schedule page.
 
The Pride (40-12) earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by defeating James Madison, 7-4, to claim the Colonial Athletic Association title on Friday, its 12th CAA Championship since joining the league in 2002. Hofstra is 26-32 all-time in NCAA Tournament play and will make its first regional appearance since 2015.
 
The team's seven seniors will look to continue to lead the Pride in what has already been an historic season, surpassing the 40-win mark for the 11th time in program history. The 2018 squad has set the single-season school records for home runs and RBIs and is five runs shy of the program mark. Seniors Brittany Allocca, Brielle Pietrafesa and Megan Patierno all rank in the program top 10 for career home runs. Allocca has also set the school record for career and single-season walks, while ranking fourth in single-season home runs, career RBIs and single-season RBIs. Pietrafesa sits second in single-season RBIs, as well as 6th in single-season home runs and doubles and ninth in career runs.
 
Hofstra also returned to the national polls this season for the first time since the final week of the 2013 season, checking in at No. 24 this week, and is currently ranked 19th in the RPI with the 29th toughest schedule in the country.
 
Liberty (47-12) comes into Friday's regional matchup riding a 17-game win streak after defeating Radford to claim the Big South Championship. Twins and All-Big South First-Team selections Amber and Autumn Bishop lead the team at the plate, with Amber posting a team-best .378 average, 11 home runs and 42 RBIs. Autumn isn't far behind with a .369 average, eight homers and 41 RBIs.
 
In the circle, Big South Pitcher of the Year Julia DiMartino has seen most of the work, posting a 1.79 ERA and 27-7 record with 212 strikeouts. Elizabeth Engler (8-2, 1.81 ERA) and Chase Cassady (10-2, 2.26 ERA) have also been impressive this season.
 
Friday's contest will mark the first-ever matchup between Hofstra and Liberty. The winner will advance to take on the winner of South Carolina versus UNCG on Saturday at 1 p.m., with the losers of Friday's games playing an elimination game on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.