Hempstead, N.Y. – Hofstra's scheduled doubleheader against Dartmouth on Wednesday has been moved to Fordham's Bahoshy Field in the Bronx with the first game scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m.
Conditions at Hofstra Softball Stadium prompted the move of the non-conference twin-bill against Dartmouth to the off-site location on Fordham's campus. Following the non-league tune-up, Hofstra will then travel to UNCW to start Colonial Athletic Association play this weekend, starting with a Saturday doubleheader at noon and a Sunday finale against the Seahawks that will also begin at 12 pm. Live statistics will be available for Hofstra's games against Dartmouth and UNCW will offer free live video and audio.
Hofstra (7-7-1) is coming off a week's rest following the cancelation of the St. John's Invitational. The Pride last played on March 8. Junior outfielder
Caryn Bailey has a team-best six-game hitting streak and freshman
Brittany Allocca leads the team by reaching base safely in 11 consecutive games.
Hofstra will be playing Dartmouth for the first time in program history. The Big Green is looking to regain momentum following a 4-10 start. Dartmouth will be coming off a weekend layoff just like Hofstra. Dartmouth has played a challenging schedule in falling to No. 16 Auburn earlier this season and losing twice to a Texas squad that was receiving votes in the NFCA national poll at the time.
Dartmouth has won two of the last three games with shutout victories over Loyola Chicago and South Carolina State. The team lost to CAA-member College of Charleston, 2-1, in the Holy City Showdown in Charleston, South Carolina.
The Pride will then open CAA play against UNCW. Hofstra has dominated the all-time series with a 30-3 record. UNCW has lost the last 14 games in the series and has not won since 2009 in the second game of the three-game set at Wilmington.
UNCW enters the week 11-6 before hosting Campbell in a doubleheader on Tuesday. Sarah Davis leads UNCW's offense, driving in 13 runs while hitting .385. Davis has also been one of two main starters in the circle, going 4-2 with a 2.05 ERA to complement Casey Rowland's 4-3 start and a 1.67 ERA. Peyton Jordan has provided a valuable role as UNCWs' reliever in also logging a 1.67 ERA in 10 appearances (including a shutout in one of her two spot starts).
Countering Hofstra in the circle will be a pair of seniors in
Morgan Lashley and
Taylor Pirone. The game at Bahoshy Field will look familiar for Pirone, who pitched for Fordham from 2012-13 before transferring to Hofstra before the start of last season.
Lashley threw her second no-hitter as a member of the Pride and Hofstra's first of 2015 in a six-inning win vs. Central Arkansas. The right-hander won CAA Pitcher of the Week honors on March 11 following a 2-0 record and a 0.69 in three starts at the FAU Parents' Weekend Tournament.
Bailey won her first CAA weekly award when she named the Player of the Week on March 11 following a 9-for-18 effort in the five-game FAU tournament that included a home run and five RBIs.
