Softball 2/10/2016 11:04:00 AM By Brian Bohl

SB: Hofstra Starts Season At FAU Kick-Off Classic

Hofsta Softball 2016 Junior Class

Hempstead, N.Y. – Hofstra will start the 2016 season in the FAU Kick-Off Classic from Feb. 12-14 from Boca Raton, Florida. The Pride will play five games, starting with a 3:45 p.m. game against Tulsa before taking on host school Florida Atlantic at 8:15 p.m. in a rematch of last season's NCAA Gainesville Regional matchup.

Saturday will put Southern Illinois Edwardsville (SIU-E) and Wright State against Hofstra. The Pride will cap the tournament with a second game against Tulsa on Sunday at 11:15 a.m.

Hofstra is coming off its 16th NCAA appearance and has won the CAA championship in three of the last four seasons entering 2016. Hofstra, which went 38-14-1 last year, has qualified for the NCAA regionals for four consecutive seasons from 2012-15.

The Pride has made the tournament in 11 of the last 13 years entering the current campaign. The program has won at least one NCAA Tournament game in each of its last 13 appearances.

Second-year Head Coach Larissa Anderson won the conference title in her first season as the head coach in 2015 and led Hofstra to its sixth consecutive 30-win season. The Pride has won at least 30 games every year since 2010.

Hofstra returns 13 players off last season's roster that went 38-14-1 and 17-3 against the CAA. The Pride won the CAA title and advanced to the NCAA Gainesville Regional in Larissa Anderson's first season as the head coach.

Anderson sees eight players who comprised last year's starting lineup return. The Pride brings back a group that smashed 54 of the team's 56 home runs, including senior outfielder Caryn Bailey, who hit 16 home runs and drove in 52 runs.

All four of Hofstra's .300 hitters – Bailey, fellow seniors Chloe Fitzgerald and Kim Smith, as well as junior Lacey Clark – are back. Four additional players who all logged more than 40 games, including junior Michaela Transue and sophomores Brittany Allocca, Megan Patierno and Brielle Pietrafesa, are again in the fold. The Pride will also welcome four freshmen to the squad.

Tulsa made the NCAA regionals from 2011-14 before missing it last season. The squad was picked second in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll and returns two pitchers and 12 players overall from the 2015 squad that reached the conference tournament finals and tallied 36 wins. Last year marked fifth straight year the team cracked the 35-win mark. Hofstra is 2-1 in the all-time series and last played the Golden Hurricanes in 2013.

A matchup against SIUE will be the first time the teams have ever played.

The tournament will see Hofstra put a 2-0 all-time record against Wright State on the line against a team that went 23-33 last year. The Raiders return two of the team's top-three hitters from last year in Libby Pfeffer (.321 average) and home run-leader Becka Peterson, who smashed eight dingers and drove in a team-leading 37 runs.

The marquee game in the tournament is a meeting against FAU. The teams played in memorable games last season. The Pride lost the Owls in the first game in FAU's regular season tournament before playing to a 5-5; 11-inning tie in the finale. Hofstra defeated the Owls in the NCAA Gainesville regional, though the Owls eliminated the Pride with a victory the next day before Florida eliminated FAU and advanced. Hofstra is 4-10-1 in the all-time series.

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Players Mentioned

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

#24 Caryn Bailey: OF; 5' 6"; Senior; L/R

#5 Lacey Clark: INF; 5' 10"; Junior; R/R

#10 Chloe Fitzgerald: OF; 5' 6"; Senior; L/L

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

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

#3 Kim Smith: INF; 5' 4"; Senior; R/R

#17 Michaela Transue: INF; 5' 6"; Junior; R/R

Players Mentioned

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

#24 Caryn Bailey
: 5' 6"; Senior; L/R
: OF

#5 Lacey Clark
: 5' 10"; Junior; R/R
: INF

#10 Chloe Fitzgerald
: 5' 6"; Senior; L/L
: OF

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

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

#3 Kim Smith
: 5' 4"; Senior; R/R
: INF

#17 Michaela Transue
: 5' 6"; Junior; R/R
: INF

Hofstra University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned