Clearwater, Fla. – Hofstra Softball split the second day of the Michele Smith National Pediatric Cancer Foundation Tournament in Clearwater, Florida, beating Binghamton, 14-6, on the run rule before falling to No. 20 USF. Hofstra moved to 2-2 on the season.

GAME 1 – BINGHAMTON
Hofstra's offense came out firing Saturday morning, led by a grand slam from junior Megan Patierno and a three-run homer from classmate Brielle Pietrafesa. Freshman Kristin Hallam went 4-for-5, with two runs and an RBI, and junior Brittany Allocca added two doubles.

Freshman Kristin Hallam hit a lead-off single to get things started, but was caught stealing at second. Pietrafesa then doubled, before Allocca walked and junior Nikki Michalowski singled to load the bases. Patierno then hit a blast to give Hofstra an early 4-0 lead.

After sophomore Courtney Scarpato was walked to open the top of the second, Hallam singled again, before Pietrafesa hit Hofstra's second long ball of the day to drive in three more runs. Makenzie Goluba then came in to relieve Rayn Gibson in the circle, but the Pride kept hitting. Allocca, the first batter Goluba faced, doubled. Later in the inning, Goluba walked Paiterno before senior Lacey Clark singled to load the bases. Senior Christie Sinacori's single brought in two more runs for a 10-0 Pride lead heading into the bottom of the second.

Binghamton's first three batters went down in the bottom, with freshman pitcher Sarah Cornell getting two to strike out swinging.
Hofstra picked up another run in the top of the third. Michalowski walked and Patierno walked before Clark and Sinacori walked to bring the run home. Shelby Donhauser then replaced Goluba, who got the Bearcats out of the inning.

Binghamton (1-3) mounted a rally in the bottom of the third, using a walk and two singles to load the bases. Stephanie Bielec's single brought in the Bearcats' first run, before another single, a double and a pair of fielding errors allowed five more runs to come home, cutting Hofstra's lead to 11-6 heading into the fourth.

Hallam got on base in the top of the fourth with her third single of the day. A single from Pietrafesa and a two-run double from Allocca pushed Hofstra's lead to 13-6.

Three quick outs for Binghamton brought the Pride back up in the top of the fifth, with another single from Hallam bringing in Hofstra's 14th run.

Cornell struck out the final two batters of the bottom of the fifth inning to seal the win, with the game ending due to the run rule.

GAME 2 – NO. 20 SOUTH FLORIDA
The Bulls (5-3) got off to a quick start, with a two-run home run from Bethany Keen in the top of the first inning. Hofstra was able to quickly tie it up, however, with Michalowski hitting RBI singles in the first and third innings. The second prompted USF to replace pitcher Kalen McGill with Cheyenne Eggens.

USF used a big sixth inning to take a 7-2 lead, keeping the bases loaded and driving in five runs. The Pride answered back in the bottom of the sixth, with Clark hitting a two-run home run to pull back within three with one out, but the Bulls turned a double-play to get out of the inning.

Hofstra got one more run with two outs in the seventh, with Patierno recording an RBI single after Scarpato and Hallam had singled and Allocca walked, but a strikeout got the Bulls the third out to take the win.

The Pride closes the Michele Smith Tournament on Sunday with a 9:30 p.m. matchup with Wisconsin.