Elon, N.C. – Hofstra rallied for two runs in the seventh to send the game into extra innings and Brielle Pietrafesa and Alyssa Cuzzola registered 11th-inning RBIs to lift Hofstra to a 4-3 win over Elon in the finale of a three-game Colonial Athletic Association set on Sunday afternoon at Hunt Softball Park.
Hofstra junior pitcher Jessica Peslak (14-6) threw a career-high 10 innings to earn the victory. The right-hander struck out two and logged 133 pitches to help Hofstra win two-of-three in the series to improve to 19-15 and move back to .500 in league play at 4-4. Elon dropped to 21-17 and 6-3 in CAA action.
Elon's Emily Roper hit a leadoff home run in the 11th to cut Hofstra's lead to one and end Peslak's outing. Freshman Courtney Scarpato came in and worked around an error and a walk to record three straight outs in picking up her sixth save.
The Phoenix sacrificed runners to second and third before Scarpato forced Horn to line out to second. With the potential tying and winning runs in scoring position, the righty induced Alaina Hall to ground out to second to end the contest.
Hofstra took the lead in the 2:55 game in the top of the 11th. Junior shortstop Michaela Transue worked a leadoff walk off left-handed reliever Kiandra Mitchum (2-4) to start the frame. That brought in right-hander Elise Walton, who saw sophomore catcher Brittany Allocca reach on an error. A sacrifice bunt moved runners to second and third before Pietrafesa lined a RBI single up the middle.
Cuzzola, a senior who came into the game originally as a defensive replacement in left, came up for her first plate appearance and pulled a ground to the right side that scored sophomore pinch runner Megan Patierno.
Peslak and Elon's Kayla Caruso engaged in a pitcher's duel, but Carey Million's two-run home run with two outs in the sixth broke a deadlock and propelled the Phoenix to a 2-0 lead. Hannah Olson hit a one-out single to center and Million drove a 0-1 pitch to the left of the scoreboard for her first home run of the season.
The Pride came back in the top of the seventh to extend the game as Hofstra played its second extra-inning effort of the season. Both of those games have come in CAA play with the Pride falling in eight innings at Towson on March 26.
Allocca hit her career-high sixth home run by pulling Caruso's pitch down the left field line and over the foul pole to start the seventh. Senior third baseman Kim Smith ripped a single up the middle to end Caruso's outing in favor of Mitchum.
Sophomore outfielder Brielle Pietrafesa sacrificed Smith to second before a fly out set up the pressure situation. Junior second baseman Lacey Clark then came through by hitting a clutch opposite-field single to right to score from second and tie the game at 2.
Clark's hit gave Caruso a no-decision. Hofstra nearly scratched out a run in the eighth when Transue doubled to right-center. Allocca then pulled a line drive to the left side that Olson, the shortstop, caught by lunging to her right to end the inning.
Clark nearly put Hofstra ahead by virtue of another two-out hit in the ninth. The middle infielder drove Mitchum's pitch to the right-center gap for a double. Smith, who reached on a leadoff walk, got a good jump, but was thrown out on a bang-bang play at the plate off second baseman Erica Serafini's relay throw home to keep the score knotted.
Elon put at least one runner on base through each of the first three innings, but Peslak danced around trouble in each frame. Peslak induced fly outs to strand two runners on both the first and third innings and struck out Callie Horn to end the second inning with a runner on first.
Hofstra threatened in the third when freshman Madison Ambush was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and senior leftfielder Chloe Fitzgerald pulled a single to the right side before Caruso stranded two on a pop out.The Pride has out-scored teams, 30-10, in the seventh inning this season.
Hofstra will next be in action at Iona in a non-conference matchup on Wednesday. Game time for the single contest is set for 3 p.m.
