SB: Hofstra Continues Home Slate This Week Versus Iona And Nationally Ranked James Madison

Hempstead, N.Y. – Looking to build on a season-high eight-game winning streak, Hofstra will continue a homestand by hosting Iona in a Wednesday doubleheader at 3 p.m. The Pride will the welcome defending-Colonial Athletic Association champion James Madison with a three-game set starting with a 2 p.m. Friday doubleheader followed by the series finale on Saturday at noon.

All five games will feature free live audio courtesy of Pride Productions, as well as live statistics. Friday's games against the Dukes can also be heard on WRHU (88.7 FM) starting with a 1:45 p.m. pregame show.

Hofstra is 15-7-1 and 6-0 in CAA play. The Pride is 5-0 at home this season, including four straight wins to start a nine-game homestand at Hofstra Softball Stadium following a three-game weekend sweep over Towson. The Pride will put its longest winning streak since 2013 on the line against an Iona squad that is 4-13 overall but coming off two straight wins over Niagara.

Hofstra will be playing Iona for the sixth consecutive season. The teams have met every year since 2010, with the Pride posting a 4-1 road win last season. Hofstra is 16-0 in the all-time series which started in 1980. Iona won the first two games to start MAAC play by defeating Niagara by an 8-4 aggregate.

Three Iona starters are batting better than .300, led by Brianna Schauer's .327 average to go with her 11 RBIs. Three pitchers have made at least four starts for the Gales and four hurlers have one win exactly. Iona has been out-scored this season, 110-48.

The non-league tune-ups will look to prepare the Pride to face a James Madison squad that was ranked 25th in the latest NFCA poll on March 24. JMU has won a program-record 18 straight games entering the series against Hofstra. Eight starters are batting better than .300.

Hofstra's RPI is 25 in the latest poll released on March 30. That mark is the best in the conference with the Dukes following closely at 28.

Freshman pitcher Megan Good continued her torrid start by winning the CAA Pitcher of the Week Award after going 4-0 with a 1.57 ERA and 19 strikeouts. Good has jolted onto the CAA scene by starting 16-0 with a 1.04 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 107 1/3 innings. She has teamed with Jailyn Ford, the 2014 CAA Pitcher of the Year, in a formidable one-two punch. Ford is 9-4 with a 2.46 ERA while batting .330 and smashing a team-high seven home runs. Like Ford, Good is an offensive threat as well in batting .415 with a .613 slugging percentage in driving in 23 runs.

Both James Madison and Hofstra qualified for the 2014 NCAA Tournament. The Dukes posted a three-game sweep at home in the regular season and won the matchup in the CAA Tournament's second day on JMU's home field. Hofstra leads the all-time series, 35-10.

Hofstra's eight-game winning streak is a season-high. It is also the Pride's longest streak since the 2013 squad won 14 in a row before finally losing to No. 8 Missouri in the Columbia Regional.

Helping the Pride craft the streak has been two seniors pitchers in Morgan Lashley and Taylor Pirone. Lashley (9-1) has won her last nine decisions. She set a season high with 12 strikeouts against Towson in the opener of the CAA series and has fanned 88 in 83 1/3 innings. The Davidson, North Carolina native has thrown five shutouts, six complete games and will carry a 1.76 ERA into the week.

Pirone (New Rochelle, NY) evened her record to 6-6 by winning both ends of a doubleheader against Towson on March 29, including the second game that feature three innings of scoreless relief. Pirone is tied for first in Division I in fewest walks allowed per seven innings at 0.50.

Hofstra has seen three freshmen earn spots in the starting lineup. Right fielder Brielle Pietrafesa, first baseman Brittany Allocca and designated player Megan Patierno each hit home runs in the same game against Towson on March 29 and combined for four overall. Allocca's 19 RBIs leads the team and her two home runs (the same number Patierno has hit) has complemented Pietrafesa's three home runs. Three of Hofstra's five players with multiple home runs are in their first year of collegiate softball. Pietrafesa won her first career CAA Rookie of the Week award on March 30 following a two-home run inning to key Hofstra's nine-run second frame in the first game of a doubleheader versus Towson on Sunday. Pietrafesa has driven in 10 runs this season.

The Pride has been remarkably consistent in league play since joining the America East in 1995, tallying a league record of 304-51, including 201-33 in the CAA. Hofstra has also compiled a 78-3-3 series record in the CAA. The worst conference record that the program has had since 1995 was 14-6 in 2006, which was still good for a .700 winning percentage.

Hofstra dropped one CAA series in 2014 (to JMU), which marked the Pride's first conference series loss since 2006 when Delaware took two-of-three at home. Hofstra is 57-6 against league competition since the start of 2012. Hofstra is 64-6 in the last 70 regular season league matchups.

Going back to 2001 in the America East, Hofstra is 151-15 in its last 163 home games in opposing league teams. Hofstra has not lost a home conference series since 1991 (a doubleheader sweep by Drexel), going 66-0-4 in home series in that span.

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Players Mentioned

#21 Brittany Allocca: INF; 5' 6"; Freshman; R/R

#8 Morgan Lashley: P; 5' 3"; Senior; R/R

#36 Megan Patierno: INF; 5' 7"; Freshman; R/R

#14 Brielle Pietrafesa: OF; 5' 2"; Freshman; R/R

#20 Taylor Pirone: P; 5' 10"; Senior; R/R

Players Mentioned

#21 Brittany Allocca
: 5' 6"; Freshman; R/R
: INF

#8 Morgan Lashley
: 5' 3"; Senior; R/R
: P

#36 Megan Patierno
: 5' 7"; Freshman; R/R
: INF

#14 Brielle Pietrafesa
: 5' 2"; Freshman; R/R
: OF

#20 Taylor Pirone
: 5' 10"; Senior; R/R
: P