Junior pitcher Kayleigh Lotti (South Attleboro, MA/St. Raphael's Academy - pictured) threw a four-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts as the Hofstra Softball team captured first place at the University of South Florida Louisville Slugger Invitational with a 2-0 win over Wisconsin on Sunday morning.
With the win, the Pride concludes its first southern trip with a 7-3 record, including 4-1 at the Louisville Slugger, with the only loss a 10-inning, 1-0 defeat to South Florida on Saturday. The host Bulls, though, lost two games at the tournament, as Hofstra's 4-1 record ends up the best amongst the six teams in the field. South Carolina can still finish 3-1 with a win later today (Saturday's schedule was shortened by rain, resulting in an uneven number of games played), although the Pride defeated the Gamecocks 7-4 head-to-head, and would have had the tiebreaker anyway.
Hofstra's 7-3 record also includes two wins over the SEC (Mississippi, South Carolina), one over the ACC (Georgia Tech) and one over the Big 10 (Wisconsin). The Pride's three losses have included two to top-10 teams (#5 Tennessee, #7 Florida) and a 10-inning, 1-0 loss to South Florida.
Lotti was dominant for most of the game, picking up her first shutout of the season. She got some help in the third inning, though, as she gave up three consecutive singles with two outs and the Pride leading 1-0. However, sophomore right fielder Laura Jaxheimer (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) was able to throw out the tying run at the plate to end the inning.
Lotti allowed only one more hit the rest of the way, an infield single with two outs in the seventh. However, she bounced back to strike out pinch hitter Nicole Whaley to end the game, her 11th strikeout of the contest.
The Pride would get all the offense it would need in the top of the first inning, as junior center fielder Erika Bernstein (Somerville, NJ/Somerville) singled and was sacrificed to second by sophomore left fielder Kris Root (Waynesboro, PA/Greencastle-Antrim). Senior shortstop Pam Dreslinski (Kingsville, OH/Edgewood) then followed with an RBI single up the middle to give Hofstra a quick 1-0 lead.
Hofstra added an insurance run in the fourth inning as it took advantage of some Wisconsin defensive miscues. Dreslinski and junior catcher Carolann Lubach (Langley, WA/South Whidbey) reached on consecutive errors to start the inning, and sophomore first baseman Michele DePasquale (Waterford, NJ/Camden Catholic) had a bases-loaded single with one out to drive home Dreslinski with the second run. The Pride made a bid for more, but freshman third baseman Trisha Dreslinski (Kingsville, OH/Edgewood) lined out to shortstop.
Lotti's shutout effectively meant that all four Pride pitchers had a shutout on the season-opening trip. Senior Courtney Oliver (Swansea, MA/Coyle-Cassidy) threw a shutout in a 4-0 win over Florida A&M on opening day, and freshman Sara Michalowski (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) shut out Georgia Tech 4-0 on Friday. Junior Joanna Kralowetz (Mt. Airy, MD/Linganore) did not get credit for a shutout in the Pride's 1-0, 10-inning loss to South Florida on Friday, but was not charged with a run, since the only run came home due to the international tiebreaker rule with a runner placed on second to start the inning.
Hofstra will next be in action when it travels to Columbus, Georgia next weekend to compete in the NFCA Leadoff Classic. The Pride will face another grueling schedule, featuring games against Florida State, Tennessee, Georgia Tech, Illinois State, and Charlotte.
