Senior shortstop Laura Sweeney (Hopewell Junction, NY - pictured) hit a walk-off two run homer with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Hofstra Softball team completed an afternoon of dramatic comebacks with a 6-5 win over Georgia State in the nightcap of a doubleheader. The Pride won the first game 3-2 on an RBI single from freshman catcher Carolann Lubach (Langley, WA) with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
With the sweep, the Pride improves its record to 25-11 on the season, including 9-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association, taking over sole possession of first place in the conference standings. Georgia State falls to 19-23 overall and 8-3 in league play after entering the day with a half-game lead on the Pride.
Junior left fielder Ashley Lane (Westbury, NY) added two solo home runs in the nightcap, including the tying one in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings. Those two homers give her sole possession of the school's career record with 28 and also gives her 10 this season, making her the first player in school history to hit 10 home runs twice (she also did it as a freshman in 2004).
Hofstra trailed 5-3 after Georgia State scored twice in the top of the eighth on a two-out throwing error from Sweeney with the bases loaded. She took advantage of her chance for redemption with her third home run of the season in the bottom half to cap off a three-run game-winning rally. Senior second baseman Lisa Wambold (Hatboro, PA), sophomore first baseman Genevieve Haney (Levittown, PA) and freshman left fielder Erika Bernstein (Somerville, NJ) started off the inning with three straight singles to score the first run.
With runners on first and second and nobody out, Lubach followed with a scorching line drive at third baseman Alison Bradford. Bradford put her glove up in self-defense and nearly made the catch, forcing the two Pride baserunners to retreat. However, the ball popped out and Bradford was able to pick it up, step on third base to force Haney, then throw out Bernstein at second for a seemingly momentum-killing double play. Sweeney, though, came back to hit a 3-1 pitch over the left field fence to complete the dramatic comeback and give Hofstra the 6-5 win.
The Pride trailed 3-0 after Georgia State scored a run in the first on an RBI single from starting pitcher Meghan McCoy that took a bad hop over Sweeney's shoulder, and then added two unearned runs in the third off of Hofstra starter Melissa Hodge (Hamilton, NJ). Lane got the Pride's comeback started with a solo homer with one out in the fifth to cut the lead to 3-1, and relief pitcher Courtney Oliver (Swansea, MA) added an RBI single off the wall in left field to cut the lead to 3-2. The score remained 3-2 until Lane led off the bottom of the seventh with her second homer of the day to tie the game up and force extra innings.
Oliver did not allow an earned run in five innings of relief, allowing only two hits while striking out six, to get the win and improve to 9-4 on the season. Reliever Chelsey Morgan took the loss for the Panthers to slip to 4-6. Lane finished the nightcap 3-for-4 with two homers and two RBI, while Bernstein was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Left fielder Jamie Cagle was 4-for-4 with an RBI for the Panthers, while McCoy was 2-for-4 with an RBI.
In the opening game, Lubach broke a 2-2 tie with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh to complete a late-inning comeback and give Hofstra the 3-2 victory. Oliver led off the inning with a single and was replaced by pinch-runner Casey Fee (Long beach, NY). A Wambold walk moved Fee to second and two outs later, Lubach singled up the middle on a 1-2 pitch to score Fee with the game-winning run.
The Pride trailed 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning, but used its speed to manufacture a pair of runs to tie the game. Freshman left fielder Erika Bernstein (Somerville, NJ) led off with an infield single on a slow roller to shortstop. One out later, Sweeney laid down a bunt single, and Bernstein went all the way to third base, with Sweeney moving in behind her to second on the throw. Lane hit a single into shallow left-center to score Bernstein, and Sweeney then came home on a failed suicide squeeze attempt, as Georgia State catcher Jackie Jaegle's throw to third sailed down the left field line.
Georgia Statetook an early 2-0 lead when designated player Candace Jones hit a two-run homer in the top of the second inning. However, Pride starter Kayleigh Lotti (South Attleboro, MA) settled down after that and allowed only two more hits, both to second baseman Mary Kathryn Branan, to get the win and improve to 11-4 on the year. She finished with a complete-game three-hitter, striking out five and walking one.
Hofstra is now 10-0 at home this season and 153-24 all-time at Hofstra Softball Stadium, since it opened in 1999. Hofstra is also 46-3 all-time at home against CAA teams since the league was founded in 2002, and 56-3 in its last 59 games at home against conference opponents, dating back to the 2001 season in the America East. The Pride also won its ninth straight extra-inning game in the nightcap, dating back to the 2004 campaign.
Georgia State and Hofstra will complete their three-game series on Sunday, when they play a single game at 12 noon.
