HOFSTRA HOSTS LOCAL RIVALS FORDHAM, ST. JOHN'S

4/19/2010 8:00:00 PM

Hempstead, NY - The Hofstra Softball team will play a pair of key non-conference games this week when it hosts Fordham on Tuesday and St. John's on Wednesday. Both games begin at 4 p.m.

Hofstra enters the week at 31-7 on the season, while Fordham is 36-8. The game will also likely feature a match-up between two outstanding young pitchers in Hofstra freshman Olivia Galati (West Babylon, NY) and Fordham sophomore Jen Mineau. Galati enters the week with a 19-3 record and a 1.16 ERA, to go along with 191 strikeouts and just 23 walks in 145.1 innings, while Mineau is 23-5 with an 0.77 ERA, to go along with 358 strikeouts and just 18 walks in 190.2 innings.

The two teams nearly entered the game with dueling winning streaks, but the Pride had its 13-game streak snapped with a 4-3 defeat to Towson on Sunday, a result which also snapped a 14-game win streak for Galati. Fordham has won 10 straight games and 18 of its last 20, with the only losses coming via a doubleheader sweep to nationally ranked Massachusetts on April 3.

Hofstra senior first baseman Michele DePasquale (Waterford, NJ) was named the Colonial Athletic Association Co-Player of the Week on Monday after batting .500 (8-16) in five games, including three home runs, to go along with 10 RBI. DePasquale is well on her way to leading the Pride in hitting for the third season in a row, entering the week with a .368 batting average, seven homers and 26 RBI. Last year, she was the second toughest player in the country to strike out, and Mineau accounted for one of her three K's on the season (in the first meeting in Florida).

Senior center fielder Kris Root (Waynesboro, PA) also had a big weekend at Towson, batting .600 (6-10) and stealing her sixth base of the year in six attempts. She now has 44 swipes in her career, 11 shy of the school record held by Lisa Wambold (2003-06). Junior shortstop Trisha Dreslinski (Kingsville, OH) earned the Pride the win in game one of the Towson series with a two-run homer in the seventh inning, while freshman outfielder Tessa Ziemba (Wilmington, DE) provided a pair of clutch seventh-inning RBI hits as well.

The Pride is 7-1 all-time against the Rams, but Fordham won its first game in the series last year in Florida 2-1 behind a three-hitter from Mineau. Hofstra won the rematch in the Bronx last year, capturing a 4-3 decision in eight innings, as current senior Christie Novatin (Farmingdale, NJ) hit a pinch-hit two-run homer off Mineau in the eighth inning. Current sophomore Erin Wade (Taunton, MA) earned the win in relief in that game, allowing just one hit in six innings of work (a two-out homer from Samantha Pellechio in the bottom of the eighth to cut the lead to 4-3). Pellechio also hit a two-run homer in the first meeting between the teams to give the Rams the 2-1 win.

Offensively, Fordham is potent with the bats and with its speed on the basepaths. Senior Erin Fisher is hitting .381 with 12 homers and 42 RBI, while sophomore Beckah Wiggins is batting .350 with 10 homers and 51 RBI. Fisher, Jocelyn Dearborn and Lindsey Kay Bright are all tied for the team lead with 13 stolen bases, while Wiggins has chipped in with eight.

Galati defeated St. John's 6-2 earlier this season in Jamaica on March 24. St. John's is 16-23 on the year, but does have a potent offense, led by Kacee Cox (.403, 7 HR, 39 RBI). The Pride is 8-0-1 in its last nine meetings with the Red Storm since a 4-3 defeat in 2002 (the tie came in 2005 in the second game of a doubleheader due to darkness).

To listen in to the games, sign up for the PrideZone (the audio only option is free) at www.GoHofstra.com.

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