Piscataway, NJ - Freshman Olivia Galati (West Babylon, NY) threw a five-hitter for her 10th straight win as Hofstra defeated Rutgers 4-1 in the first game of a doubleheader, then hit a solo homer to account for the margin of victory in a 2-1 victory in the nightcap as Hofstra swept two games from Rutgers on Wednesday.
Junior third baseman Sara Michalowski (Philadelphia, PA) was 3-for-4 with two RBI in the opener, while sophomore Erin Wade (Taunton, MA) threw a three-hitter with five strikeouts in the nightcap as the Pride improves to 24-6 on the year. Rutgers slips to 12-19 with the losses.
In the opening game, Hofstra jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Freshman designated player Rachael Senatore (Sparta, NJ) led off with a hit-by-pitch and stole second. Freshman right fielder Tessa Ziemba (Wilmington, DE) drove her in with an RBI single, and after Galati singled, Michalowski drove in both runners with a double to right to make the score 3-0.
Ziemba's single extended her streak to hits in seven consecutive at-bats, dating back to Friday's doubleheader with George Mason. She also reached base in 10 straight plate appearances, including two walks and a hit-by-pitch, before the streak was snapped by a diving stop in the third inning by second baseman Jennifer Harabedian on a hard shot up the middle.
Rutgers struck back with a run in the bottom of the first, as Brittney Lindley homered to center with two outs. Hofstra answered in the third, as freshman left fielder Becca Bigler (Bainbridge, PA) hit her first collegiate homer to push the lead back up to 4-1.
Rutgers' Kylee Bishop led off the bottom of the fourth with a double down the left field line past the dive of Michalowski at third. One out later, she moved to third on an infield single from Ashley Bragg, but Galati escaped the jam with a pop-up and a strikeout.
Galati stayed out of trouble until there were two outs in the bottom of the seventh, when a walk and a bloop single brought the tying run to the plate. However, Galati retired Jennifer Meinheit on a slow grounder to shortstop Trisha Dreslinaki (Kingsville, OH), who made a strong defensive play charging the ball to nip the speedy Meinheit at first for the final out.
Galati struck out five and walked three to improve her record to 15-2, including 10 straight wins since a 3-1 loss to current No. 2 Michigan on March 14. She has allowed two or fewer runs in all 15 of her wins this season.
In the nightcap, Hofstra got off to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second as senior center fielder Kris Root (Waynesboro, PA) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and two outs. Michalowski led off with a single, and junior second baseman Krista Thorn (Smithtown, NY) kept the rally going with a two out single into right-center. Dreslinski then drew a walk to load the bases before Root was hit by a 3-1 pitch to drive home the first run.
Rutgers center fielder Jennifer Meinheit took a run off the board for Hofstra in the top of the fourth. With runners on first and second and two out, senior first baseman Michele DePasquale (Waterford, NJ) singled up the middle. Meinheit charged the ball and came up throwing, sending a strike to the plate to just nip Thorn trying to score from second with an insurance run.
Wade retired the first eight batters before allowing a two-out single in the third to Kaci Madden, as Thorn made a pair of sterling defensive plays on grounders up the middle (one in the first inning and one in the third) behind her. Kylee Bishop drew a two-out walk in the fourth, but Wade answered with a strikeout.
Galati stretched the lead to 2-0 when she led off the fifth inning with a solo homer to left field, her second round-tripper of the season, which proved to be the difference. Rutgers cut the lead in half in the bottom of the sixth as Lindley singled up the middle with two outs after Madden led off with a single and pinch-runner Lindsey Curran was sacrificed to second.
Hofstra loaded the bases in the top of the seventh with a Galati single, a walk and a Rutgers error. Starting pitcher Nicole Lindley escaped the jam by getting Thorn to pop up into foul territory, leaving the score still 2-1.
Wade started out the bottom of the seventh by getting Mandy Craig to pop up into foul territory. Ashley Bragg then hit a comebacker to Wade for the second out and Harabedian popped up to second to complete the 1-2-3 inning and end the game.
Wade improves to 8-4 on the year with the three-hitter, walking just one batter and striking out five. Galati was 2-for-4 in the nightcap, while seven other Hofstra players had one hit apiece.
Hofstra will next be in action when it travels to James Madison for a three-game CAA series, including a doubleheader on Saturday and a single game on Sunday.
