Senior Courtney Oliver (Swansea, MA - pictured) got the win in the circle and jump-started the offense with a go-ahead two-run double in the fifth as Hofstra won the second game with Georgia State 5-2 after dropping the opener 1-0 despite tallying 12 hits.
With the split, Hofstra moves to 26-10 overall and 8-3 in the CAA, maintaining a half-game lead over Georgia State, which slips to 28-11 overall and 7-3 in league play. Towson also climbed to within a half-game of the lead at 7-3 with a doubleheader sweep of Delaware, while Drexel is 7-3 heading into its second game of a doubleheader with James Madison.
After 18 Hofstra hits in the first 11 innings failed to produce a run, Hofstra finally broke through on offense in the fifth inning of the nightcap on a two-run double from Oliver. Junior second baseman Casey Fee (Long Beach, NY) started the rally with an infield chopper that pitcher Madi Gore lunged for to her backhand side, but it popped out of her glove for an infield single. Freshman designated player Sara Michalowski (Philadelphia, PA) followed with a single into the right-center field gap to move Fee to third. Oliver then scorched a line drive past Rachel Cunningham at shortstop that rolled all the way to the wall to allow two runs to score.
After a walk to sophomore first baseman Michele DePasquale (Waterford, NJ), sophomore Stefanie Feinstein (West Chester, PA) lined a pinch-hit single to right field to score pinch-runner Christie Novatin (Farmingdale, NJ) with the third run of the inning. Senior shortstop Pam Dreslinski (Kingsville, OH) capped off the inning when she doubled to the wall in center to score two runs and stretch the lead to 5-1.
The game started with the Pride continuing to see scoring opportunities slip away. Left fielder Holly Willis, who threw out the tying run at the plate for the final out of the first game, continued her stellar defense in game two, as she made a diving catch on a ball in the gap from Fee in the top of the first inning. In the second inning, Oliver hit a ball off the top of the wall in left, but Willis got to it quickly and was able to throw out Oliver trying to stretch it into a double. That out would prove to be costly as the Pride followed with two more singles and a walk, but left the bases loaded without scoring.
Georgia State took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third, as right fielder Natasha Berry led off with a walk, moved to second a groundout, then stole third. After a walk put runners on the corners, shortstop Rachel Cunningham swung at an inside pitch from Oliver in on her fists that squirted to the left of third baseman Genevieve Haney (Levittown, PA). Haney lunged to make the play and had it in her glove momentarily on the ground but couldn't get control of it in time to get Berry breaking for home.
Oliver pitched 5.2 solid innings, allowing five hits and striking out nine, before a two-out walk and hit by pitch put runners on first and second in the bottom of the sixth. Junior Joanna Kralowetz (Mt. Airy, MD) came on in relief and Berry hit a sharp line drive right back at Kralowetz for the third out of the inning.
However, freshman catcher Courtney Lee led off the seventh with a solo homer to cut the lead to 5-2. After an error and a walk put two runners on with nobody out and brought the tying run to the plate, Hofstra went back to its opening game starter, junior Kayleigh Lotti (South Attleboro, MA), who struck out all three batters to end the game and pick up her fourth save of the season. Oliver improved to 7-1 with the win, while Lotti's three strikeouts gave her nine on the day and 622 in her career, 16 shy of the school record held by Stacy Jackson.
In the opening game, Hofstra pounded out 12 hits in seven innings (after being retired in order in the first) but was unable to score as it dropped a 1-0 decision. Lotti allowed just four hits to get the loss, while seeing her scoreless streak snapped at 43 innings in the sixth inning on an RBI double from Berry. One batter previously, Danielle Roddy hit a routine grounder to shortstop, but senior Pam Dreslinski (Kingsville, OH) stumbled slightly after fielding the ball, which gave Roddy just enough time to beat the throw for a single.
Lotti (10-5) also had a personal eight-game winning streak snapped, since falling to Georgia Tech on Feb. 29 at the NFCA Leadoff Classic. She had also won her previous 19 decisions against CAA opponents, including 6-0 this season and 3-0 in the CAA Tournament last year. She struck out six and walked none, while her four hits allowed were the most in any conference game this season. In her previous six conference starts, she had a one-hitter, four two-hitters and a three-hitter.
Hofstra had at least two runners on base in every inning from the second through seventh, but could not come up with a timely hit. Berry made a diving catch of a Dreslinski shallow liner in the second inning to prevent a run from scoring. In the top of the sixth with two runners on base, junior catcher Carolann Lubach (Langley, WA) and sophomore pinch hitter Stefanie Feinstein (West Chester, PA) each lined out sharply to left field and right field respectively.
In the seventh, Oliver and DePasquale each had singles with two outs to put the tying run on second. Junior center fielder Erika Bernstein (Somerville, NJ) then singled down the left field line, but Willis came up throwing and easily got pinch runner Trisha Dreslinski (Kingsville, OH) out at the plate for the final out of the game.
DePasquale had two hits in each game to continue her torrid hitting, extend her hitting streak to 14 games, four shy of the school record held by Crystal Boyd. She was 4-for-7 in the doubleheader and is now 17-for-32 in conference games this season (.531) and is .575 during her 14-game hitting streak. Sophomore right fielder Kris Root (Waynesboro, PA) stole her 20th base of the season, leaving her one shy of the school record set two years ago by Laura Sweeney, while Fee added her 17th of the year in 17 attempts. Fee was 3-for-4 in the second game.
The two teams will close out the series tomorrow with a single game at 11 a.m.
