SB: Hofstra To Face LIU Brooklyn And UNCW This Week

Hempstead, N.Y. – Hofstra will cap a road trip with a non-conference matchup on Thursday at LIU Brooklyn. Game time for the single contest is set for 4 p.m.

The Pride will then welcome UNCW to Bill Edwards Stadium for a three-game Colonial Athletic Association series this weekend starting with Saturday's 2 p.m. doubleheader followed by Sunday's 12 p.m. finale.

LIU Brooklyn will offer free live video and live statistics. The UNCW series will feature free live audio via Pride Productions as well as live statistics.

Hofstra (14-13) will be ending a nine-game road trip that was cut short when the team's scheduled Tuesday doubleheader at Syracuse was canceled due to cold conditions. The Pride will now face a Blackbirds squad that is 11-20. The game will mark Hofstra's first trip to LIU Field since 2014.

Sophomore first baseman Nikki Michalowski brings a six-game hitting streak into the week and her eight multi-RBI games leads the club. In her first season as a full-time starter, Michalowski is hitting .329 and is posting a .395 on-base percentage. She has reached safely in 10 straight games and has hit five home runs. Her 22 RBIs trails only senior third baseman Kim Smith's 25 for the team lead.

Smith's six home runs leads the team, as does her nine multi-hit games. Her efforts have helped Hofstra hit 33 home runs in 27 games.

Four Hofstra starts are hitting better than .300. Joining Michalowski and Smith is junior shortstop Michaela Transue and her team-best .375 average and .681 slugging percentage. Transue's on-base percentage through 92 plate appearances is .511, meaning she reaches safely in more than half of her times at the plate. Sophomore Brittany Allocca, who is in her first season as the team's starting catcher, is hitting .342 while hitting five home runs and slugging .570.

Hofstra will be playing LIU Brooklyn for the second time this season after falling, 3-2, in the FGCU Invitational finale. Hofstra was scheduled to face Southern Illinois in that game before multiple players fell ill and canceled the game. The Pride played LIU Brooklyn as a makeup and Erynn Sobieski's complete-game effort propelled the Blackbirds to the victory.

LIU Brooklyn will look to snap a four-game losing streak. Victoria Zamora (.373), Whitney West (.356) and Kayla Gloady (.323) are the three starters hitting better than .300 for the Blackbirds.

Hofstra is 19-8 in the all-time series. The Pride has won four of the last five games in the series.

Hofstra will continue CAA play against UNCW. The Pride will open the home conference portion of the schedule by continuing a series that the Pride has dominated historically in going 33-3. Hofstra has won the last 17 games in the series and has not lost since the middle game of a three-game set at UNCW in 2009.

The Seahawks dropped a pair of one-run games and lost the other by just two runs when it opened CAA play against No. 9 James Madison. Though UNCW lost all three, the Dukes never scored more than two runs in a game. All four UNCW pitchers who have appeared in at least 10 games have ERAs of less than two. Peyton Jordan is 10-3 with a 1.93 ERA in logging a staff-leading 79 2/3 innings. Sarah Davis is 5-5 with a 1.96 ERA. She has recorded nearly a strikeout-per-inning in whiffing 73 in 75 frames.

Kelsey Bryan is hitting .298 to lead the offense while Kali Jones and Hannah Adamczyk are tied for second at .297 to comprise a balanced lineup. UNCW is 1-1 on the road this season as the team played the vast majority of its early season games in Wilmington, North Carolina.

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Players Mentioned

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

Players Mentioned

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

#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