SB: Hofstra Continues Road Swing At Rutgers And Towson

Hempstead, N.Y. – Hofstra will continue an 11-game road trip this week with a single contest at Rutgers on Tuesday at 4 p.m. followed by the Colonial Athletic Association opener at Towson in a three-game set this weekend.

Hofstra (13-10) will venture to RU Softball Complex after taking two-of-three from Big 10-member Penn State over the weekend. The game will be the last non-conference tune-up before the Pride begins CAA play with a Saturday doubleheader against the Tigers at 12 p.m. from Tiger Softball Stadium. All four games will feature live statistics.

The Pride has scored 55 runs in the last six games. Junior shortstop Michaela Transue earned the first CAA weekly award for a Hofstra member this season when she garnered Player of the Week accolades after hitting .818 and slugging 1.636 in the last four games. Transue reached safely in 14-of-16 plate appearances (.875 on-base percentage) and drove in nine runs while scoring five.

Freshman pitcher Courtney Scarpato has logged four saves entering March 21, which tied her with 10 players for first on the NCAA Division I leaderboard. Senior outfielder Caryn Bailey's 0.48 doubles-per-game leads the CAA and was fourth in Division I entering the week.

The Pride has hit 25 home runs in 23 games this season while hitting a collective .291. Transue, sophomore catcher Brittany Allocca, sophomore first baseman Nikki Michalowski, senior third baseman Kim Smith and Bailey give Hofstra five starters who are batting better than .300.

Hofstra is 24-6 in the all-time series against Rutgers and has won seven of the last nine dating to the 2010 season. Rutgers is 14-16 and will be opening home play after going 3-2 in the Spring Break Tournament at USF. The Scarlet Knights, who are also Big 10 members, are led by a trio of .300 hitters. Stephanie Huang's .402 average is pacing the squad while adding a home run and 16 RBIs. Four players have hit multiple home runs, led by Rebecca Hall's team-leading three. Her 16 RBIs are tied with Huang for the second-most behind Melanie Slowinski's Rutgers-best 17 RBIs.

Rutgers employs a deep pitching staff that includes four players who have made at least four starts. Whitney Jones and Dresden Maddox are tied for the team lead by posting five wins apiece and Shayla Sweeney (4-3) has a team-leading ERA of 3.40 and joined Jones and Maddox as pitchers who have logged at least 50 innings.

Hofstra will open CAA play at Towson. The games will mark the first time the Pride will be playing on Towson's home field since 2012. All three games in the 2014 series were rained out. Hofstra is 66-16 all-time against Towson. Hofstra posted a three-game home sweep last season.

Towson is off to a 19-5 start for a .792 winning percentage. The Tigers are 6-2 at home this season and will be playing for the first time since March 19 after weather wiped out the team's last two scheduled games.

The Tigers won 35 games in 2015 and are led by a potent offense this year in hitting a collective .333. Shelby Stracher's .379 average and 33 RBIs are the team's best. Her 23 runs scored are tied with Daria Edwards for Towson's top spot, and Edwards is hitting .371. Veteran hitters Holiday Cahill (.338) and Olivia Yarbrough (.318), along with Bailey Boyd's .303 average, give the Tigers five regulars batting at least .300. The team has hit 32 home runs in 24 games, paced by Stracher's eight long balls. Edwards has gone deep six times and Boyd has hit five.

Hofstra last lost to Towson in the 2014 CAA Tournament, when the Tigers eliminated the Pride on James Madison's field. The Pride last lost to Towson on the road in the final contest of a three-game set in 2010.

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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

#11 Nikki Michalowski: UT; 5' 8"; Sophomore; R/R

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

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

#16 Courtney Scarpato: P/INF/OF; 5' 3"; Freshman; S/R

Players Mentioned

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

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

#11 Nikki Michalowski
: 5' 8"; Sophomore; R/R
: UT

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

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

#16 Courtney Scarpato
: 5' 3"; Freshman; S/R
: P/INF/OF