Hempstead, N.Y. – Hofstra will continue a stretch of eight consecutive road games with a non-conference doubleheader on Thursday against Rutgers at RU Sports Complex with a scheduled 2:30 p.m. first pitch.
The Pride is 13-6 and 0-3 in Colonial Athletic Association play after dropping three games at James Madison to begin league action. Rutgers is 12-9 and 1-2 against the American Athletic Conference. The Scarlet Knights dropped two of three to Louisville over the weekend.
Though Hofstra lost a conference series for just the third time since joining the CAA (72-3-3 in league series since joining in the 2002 season), the Pride still has six starters who are batting higher than .300 in Chloe Fitzgerald, Rachael Senatore, Becca Bigler, Maggie Hawkins, Kim Smith and Erin Trippi.
Hofstra's pair of junior starting pitchers gave Hofstra a chance to win all three games against the Dukes. Taylor Pirone (4-3) leads the squad with a 1.32 ERA and took a no-decision in allowing just one run on five hits without walk in front of an announced crowd of almost 900 people at JMU on Saturday. Pirone has already tied her career high in wins, which she set for Fordham in 2012.
Morgan Lashley battled JMU's Jailyn Ford in a pitcher's duel on Sunday with Lashley (9-2) taking the hard-luck loss by allowing just two runs on four hits in the complete-game effort. Taylor Newton's fifth-inning solo home run broke a deadlock and was the difference in the 2-1 win for the Dukes. Lashley, who had started the season 9-0, has a 1.71 ERA and has compiled 80 strikeouts in 78 innings while carrying a strikeout-to-walk ratio of slightly better than 4-to-1.
Hofstra and Rutgers will continue its yearly rivalry as the teams have met every season since 2010. The teams split a doubleheader at Hofstra Softball Stadium last season with Rutgers winning, 1-0, in eight innings before the Pride took the second game, 6-5. Hofstra is 23-5 in the all-time series.
Rutgers head coach Jay Nelson coached former Hofstra two-time All-America pitcher Olivia Galati last summer for the New York/New Jersey Comets of the National Pro Fastpitch League.
Bigler, a senior shortstop hit a home run against James Madison on March 22, which marked the 27th of her career to tie Lisa Wambold (2003-06) for fourth on the program's all-time list. Ashley Lane (2004-07) is the all-time leader with 40.
Hofstra has performed well when racing to early leads and has been strong at holding on with the Pride 9-0 when leading after five innings and 10-1 when scoring the game's first run.
