Hempstead, NY - Freshman pitcher Olivia Galati (West Babylon, NY) threw a one-hit shutout with 14 K's to pick up her 20th win of the season as Hofstra won the first game of a doubleheader from UNC Wilmington 3-0 on Saturday afternoon at Hofstra Softball Stadium.  

Sophomore pitcher Erin Wade (Taunton, MA) added a five-inning, one-hit shutout in the nightcap as the Pride won 8-0 to complete the sweep. Hofstra improves to 34-8 overall and 13-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association with the wins, maintaining a three-game lead for first over Georgia State, which swept George Mason. UNC Wilmington falls to 8-37 overall and 3-11 in league play.

Galati improved to 20-4 on the year with her win, tallying the 13th 20-win season in school history. She is now one of only seven pitchers in school history to have at least one 20-win season, while she also became one of only three pitchers in school history to strikeout 200 batters in a season (she now has 213).

In the opener, Hofstra broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third when it took advantage of some shaky UNC Wilmington defense (three errors). Junior shortstop Trisha Dreslinski (Kingsville, OH) led off with a bloop single and came around to score on an error. Senior center fielder Kris Root (Waynesboro, PA) also had an infield single in the inning to set up the Pride's second run.

Galati retired the first 11 batters in order, eight by strikeout, before allowing a harmless two-out single to right field from Lauryn Buckowrth with two outs in the fourth. She bounced back to strike out Michelle Harrison for her ninth strikeout of the game through four innings.

The Pride added an insurance run in the sixth when junior third baseman Sara Michalowski (Philadelphia, PA) led off with a single and came home on a sacrifice fly from senior left fielder Christie Novatin (Farmingdale, NJ).

Hofstra finished with only three hits off Samme Lisowski, who fell to 3-16 with the loss while not allowing an earned run.

In the nightcap, Hofstra scored twice in the bottom of the first to take the early lead. Root led off with a single and stole second before coming home when Michalowski ripped a line drive off UNC Wilmington pitcher Amanda Aditays' shin for an RBI groundout. Galati then followed with an RBI single down the left field line to score freshman right fielder Tessa Ziemba (Wilmington, DE), who hit a shallow double that eluded the dive of Seahawks' left fielder Brittany Pierce.

Meanwhile, Hofstra played stellar defense behind Wade. Senior first baseman Michele DePasquale (Waterford, NJ) had a diving catch on a live drive in the first inning, and Dreslinski laid out for a diving catch on a screaming line drive from Brianna Lofton in the second. Michalowski then ended the third with a pretty backhanded play on a ball up the third base line.

The Pride added a run without a hit in the bottom of the second on a bases-loaded walk from Ziemba, making the score 3-0.

Hofstra then scored five times in the fourth on seven hits to stretch the lead to 8-0 and enforce the eight-run rule. DePasquale hit a three-run homer in the fourth, her team-leading eighth of the season, scoring Dreslinski and Root, who both singled. Junior catcher Laura Valentino (Smithtown, NY) singled up the middle to stretch the score to 7-0 and Dreslinski had an infield single, her second hit of the inning, to make the score 8-0.  

Lofton ended Wade's no-hit bid with a leadoff single in the fifth, which went through Wade's legs and back up the middle into center field. Hofstra quickly erased her with a 4-6-3 double-play, with Dreslinski turning two as she leapt over the slide of Lofton. Wade closed out the game with her third strikeout to record the shutout and improve to 13-4 on the season, including seven straight victories.

Zeimba was 2-for-2 in the nightcap, while Dreslinski was 2-for-3 and Root was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a stolen base, making her 8-8 stealing bases this season. DePasquale's three RBI on her homer give her 97 in her career, three shy of becoming the 14th player in school history to tally 100 RBI.

The two teams will complete the three-game series with a single game tomorrow at 12 noon (weather permitting).