Philadelphia, Pa. - Senior catcher Laura Valentino (Smithtown, N.Y.) hit a three-run homer to key a six-run third inning as the Hofstra Softball team completed a three-game sweep of Drexel with a 12-0 win on Sunday afternoon.
With the win, the Pride improves to 17-8 on the year, including eight straight wins and 11 of its last 12, as well as 3-0 in the CAA. Drexel falls to 7-13 overall and 0-3 in the CAA.
The game was scoreless going into the third before the Pride broke it open with six runs. Hofstra loaded the bases with nobody out on a walk to senior third baseman Krista Thorn (Smithtown, N.Y.), a hit by pitch to sophomore designated player D.J. Slugh (Marlboro, N.J.) and a single from sophomore center fielder Rachael Senatore (Sparta, N.J.).
After a forceout at the plate gave Drexel its first out, junior second baseman Jess Hirschbuhl (Jamison, Pa.) hit a chopper in the hole that tipped off the glove of diving third baseman Caprice DeMirjian and rolled into the outfield behind second for a two-run single. An errant throw then allowed Senatore to score to make it 3-0. Senior first baseman Sara Michalowski (Philadelphia, Pa.) drew a walk with two outs, and Valentino followed with a long drive to left-center for her second round-tripper of the season, making the score 6-0.
Hofstra again loaded the bases in the fifth with nobody out, as Hirschbuhl led off with her third single of the day. After a walk and an error put three runners on, Valentino drew a walk for her fourth RBI of the day to make the score 7-0. Senior shortstop Trisha Dreslinski (Kingsville, Ohio) followed with a line-drive double down the left field line and Thorn added a sacrifice fly to make the score 10-0. Slugh capped off the inning with a two-run shot, her second of the year, to finish off the scoring.
Sophomore pitcher Olivia Galati (West Babylon, N.Y.) threw a three-hit shutout with seven strikeouts and one walk to earn the shutout and improve to 11-5 on the year. She did walk her first batter since March 6 in the first inning, when Drexel had a runner on third with two outs and she pitched around Dragon catcher Paige Collings, who was 3-for-6 with two homers in Saturday's doubleheader against the Pride. It ended a streak of 68 strikeouts without a walk for Galati over the last three weeks.
Hirschbuhl was 3-for-4 with two RBI for the Pride, while Valentino was 1-for-1 with a homer, two walks, two runs scored, and four RBI, and Slugh was 1-for-1 with a homer, two hit-by-pitches and two runs scored.
Hofstra will next be in action this week when it hosts non-conference home games against Iona on Tuesday and Rutgers on Wednesday.
