Bethlehem, Pa. - Sophomore pitcher Olivia Galati (West Babylon, N.Y.) won her 20th game of the season with a three-hit shutout as the Hofstra Softball team defeated Lehigh 6-0 in the first game of a doubleheader on Wednesday afternoon at Kaufman Field.
Lehigh bounced back to win the nightcap 4-2 with a three-run fifth inning to salvage the split. Hofstra moves to 29-10 on the year with the split, while Lehigh moves to 23-18.
In the opening game, Hofstra struck first with four runs in the top of the second. Senior first baseman Sara Michalowski (Philadelphia, Pa.) led off with a walk, and sophomore right fielder Tessa Ziemba (Wilmington, Del.) followed with an RBI double into the left-center field gap.
Senior shortstop Trisha Dreslinski (Kingsville, Ohio) followed with an infield single to put runners on the corners. Dreslinski then stole second, and Ziemba raced home when the throw wasn't handled. Sophomore designated player D.J. Slugh (Marlboro, N.J.) followed with a double down the line to score Dreslinski, and came around to score on an RBI single from sophomore center fielder Rachael Senatore (Sparta, N.J.) to make the score 4-0.
Hofstra added a run in the top of the fifth on a two-out RBI single from Michalowski. Slugh led off with a walk, moved to second on a bunt single from Senatore, and then to third on a sacrifice bunt from junior left fielder Michelle Lavagnino (Fredericksburg, Va.) before coming home when Michalowski's grounder found the hole between first and second.
Michalowski added another RBI single in the seventh when she hit a line drive off the leg of Lehigh relief pitcher Ashley Quigley. The ball ricocheted into shallow right field, enabling Lavagnino to score from second.
Galati cruised through the first five innings, allowing only a walk in the first and infield single in the fifth, before Lehigh managed back-to-back singles with two outs in the sixth. Julie Fernandez then hit a line drive right at Senatore in center field to end the threat.
Galati then retired the side in order in the seventh to finish off the shutout, including back-to-back strikeouts for the final two outs. It was her 10th shutout of the season, while she reached the 20-win plateau for the second straight year after tying the school record with 26 wins as a freshman last spring.
Michalowski was 2-for-3 for a pair of RBI for the Pride in the opener, while Senatore was 2-for-4 with an RBI.
In the nightcap, Hofstra jumped ahead 1-0 in the second inning on a solo home run from Dreslinski that tucked inside the left field foul pole, her third homer of the year.
Junior pitcher Erin Wade (Taunton, Mass.) cruised the first time through the order, but top two hitters Audra Wood and Rosie Roessel had two straight singles with two outs in the third. Wade, though, escaped the jam by getting Alex Cueva to ground out to second.
Dreslinski nearly added another RBI in the top of the fourth when she lined a single to right, but Michalowski was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second by right fielder Jessica Long.
Lehigh then had two straight singles to lead off the fourth from Fernandez and catcher Liz Lucas. With one out, Jacqi Kennelly hit a ball in the right-center field gap that was dropped by Senatore for an error to load the bases. A sacrifice fly from Kristin Taft tied the score at 1-1, before Wade got another grounder to second to get out of the inning.
The Pride got the lead right back in the top of the fifth, as freshman pinch hitter Ashley Ainbinder (Baldwin, N.Y.) singled for her second career hit. Slugh then followed with a double to left-center to break the tie and put Hofstra ahead 2-1. Junior catcher Courtney Crews (Stafford, Va.) then scorched a line drive right at Wood in left field for the first out, and pitcher Kelsey Lee left the bases loaded when she got Ziemba to pop up to escape further damage.
Wood got Lehigh started in the bottom half of the fifth when she tapped out an infield single, and Roessel followed with a perfect bunt that died on the third base line for a single. One out later, Fernandez singled through the left side to load the bases, and a wild pitch from Wade knotted the score at 2-2. An infield single from Lucas gave Lehigh its first lead at 3-2, as Hirschbuhl made a diving stop but her throw to first was just late.
Michalowski then came on to pitch for the first time since February and gave up a sacrifice fly, as Lehigh stretched the lead to 4-2.
Lee then retired the side in order in the sixth, before Crews hit a one-out single to left to give the Pride some hope. Freshman pinch hitter Jess Zeilman (Newfield, N.J.) came back from an 0-2 count to draw a walk and put runners on first and second. Hirschbuhl, though, just got under a ball on a flyout to left, and Michalowski hit a deep fly ball into the right field corner, but Long was able to make a running catch to end the game.
Dreslinski was 2-for-3 at the plate in the nightcap for the Pride. Wade, who was questionable with an injury but pitched through it, fell to 9-4 with the loss as she threw 4.1 innings and allowed three earned runs.
Hofstra will next be in action when it hosts a three-game CAA series with Towson this weekend, including a doubleheader on Saturday at 12 noon and a single game on Sunday at 12 noon. The Pride will then play the first-ever night game at Hofstra Softball Stadium on Tuesday, when it hosts St. John's at 7 p.m.
