Hempstead, N.Y.— Senior Olivia Galati threw a complete-game three-hitter and Becca Bigler, Caryn Bailey and Erin Trippi all hit home runs for the Pride in the second game to help Hofstra post a doubleheader split against Georgia State in a Colonial Athletic Association twin-bill on Friday at Hofstra Softball Stadium.
Trippi hit home runs in both ends of the doubleheader. Georgia State's Taylor Anderson hit two home runs in the first game and Callie Alford also went deep to lift the Panthers to a 3-2 win. Galati then tossed her second complete game of the day in the back end to lead Hofstra to a 7-1 victory. The Pride has now won 14 of the last 15 to move to 17-9 overall and 3-1 in CAA play. Georgia State is 21-10 and 4-1.
Hofstra had won 24 consecutive games against CAA opponents before losing Game 1. The Pride went 19-0 in last year's regular season and won all three games in the conference tournament in capturing the program's ninth CAA title in 11 seasons. Head coach Bill Edwards' team then won the first two league games at UNC Wilmington. The loss to Georgia State was the first against a conference foe since the Panthers defeated the Pride in the 2011 championship game.
The Panthers ended Hofstra's winning streak at 13 in the first game. Georgia State went ahead, 2-0, by hitting two of the team's three solo home runs in the fourth inning. Anderson started the frame with a leadoff shot into the wind in left and, following a strikeout, Alford also cleared the leftfield fence.
Hofstra moved within one in the bottom of the inning against GSU starter Katie Worley (9-5). Trippi was hit by a pitch and Alyssa Cuzzola came in to pinch run. Following a ground out, freshman Maggie Hawkins hit a low liner to right that Audrey Mason charged but couldn't catch for a RBI double.
Anderson hit her second home run of the game to start the sixth, providing a key insurance run with the 3-1 edge. That proved to be the difference as Trippi went deep off Worley to lead off the bottom of the inning.
After Worley plunked Jess Hirshcbuhl in the ensuing at-bat, Georgia State brought in staff ace Kaitlyn Medlam, who got a strikeout and escaped the inning with a double play. Medlam pitched around a leadoff walk in the seventh to secure her first save of the season.
In the second game, Hofstra staked Galati to the early lead with two runs in the first. Freshman Chloe Fitzgerald, who went 3-for-4 while getting on base four times on the day, worked a leadoff walk. Bigler then smashed her sixth home run of 2013 with a deep shot to left off Medlam for a 2-0 lead.
The Pride, which defeated the Panthers at Hofstra Softball Stadium in the clincher of the 2012 CAA championship game, saw their rivals storm back with a run in the second on Ashley Christy's home run to left for the fourth Panthers homer of the afternoon.
But Galati would not allow another run in improving to 16-8. The West Babylon, N.Y. native now has logged 21 complete games in her 24 starts, posting a 2.19 ERA while striking out 168 in 147 1/3 innings. The first-team All-America selection is holding opponents to a .216 batting-average against.
Bailey gave Hofstra some breathing room with an opposite-field two-run home run to left. The freshman's fifth home run chased Medlam (10-4), who took the loss after giving up five runs (four earned) on six hits in three-plus innings.
Trippi hit a two-run home run off reliever Eron Milton in the sixth for the 7-1 advantage. The sophomore catcher has hit all three of her home runs in the last five games and has seven RBIs during that stretch.
Hofstra will conclude the three-game series on Saturday with a single contest starting at noon.
