Fort Myers, Fla. – Hofstra Softball topped Rutgers, 3-1, in eight innings before falling to Florida Gulf Coast, 10-2, in five innings on the first day of the FGCU/Four Points Sheraton Invitational on Friday at FGCU Softball Complex. The Pride moved to 3-4 on the season.

GAME 1 – RUTGERS

Freshman pitcher Sarah Cornell pitched a complete game against Rutgers with seven strikeouts, two walks and just one earned run to improve to 3-0 on the season. Classmate Kristin Hallam powered the Pride offensively with a pair of RBI singles.

The Scarlet Knights (0-6) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Taryn Atlee hit a lead-off double before Nicole Bowman was hit by a pitch with one out. Atlee and Bowman both advanced on a wild pitch, and Rebecca Hall reached on a fielder's choice, allowing Atlee to score. Freshman pitcher Sarah Cornell then fanned the next batter and got out of the inning on a line out to right field.

Cornell pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the second, including her second strikeout of the day, to bring Hofstra back up to bat.

Freshman Kristin Hallam walked, and junior Brielle Pietrafesa was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second with no outs in the top of the third. After the first out, Pietrafesa stole second and junior Nikki Michalowski was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but the Scarlet Knights turned a double play to escape the inning unscathed.

The Pride loaded the bases again in the top of the fourth and were able to capitalize and tie the game. Senior Lacey Clark walked before junior Kaitlyne Musa singled up the middle. Freshman Sam Tomasetti hit a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. With two outs, Hallam singled to bring Clark home and advanced to second on the throw to keep runners at second and third, but Rutgers pitcher Whitney Jones threw a strikeout for the third out.

Still tied in the seventh, Pietrafesa walked and Michalowski singled with one out to put runners on first and second, but a pair of fly outs retired the side. A 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh sent the game into extra innings.

A runner was placed on second base in the eighth per the tiebreaker rule. Musa was hit by a pitch, and Tomasetti's second sacrifice bunt of the day advanced runners to second and third. After the second out, Hallam singled to second base to bring in a run and give Hofstra its first lead of the day. Pietrafesa then reached on an error and brought in another, before Cornell retired the Rutgers side in order to seal the win.

GAME 2 – FLORIDA GULF COAST

The Eagles (7-4) took a 5-0 lead in the first inning on six singles and a pair of Hofstra errors. A second-inning lead-off double started another two-run inning for Florida Gulf Coast, as the Eagles pushed their lead to 7-0. They tacked on another in the third, powered by a Brittany McGuire triple.

Freshman pitcher Alyssa Irons faced just four batters in the fourth, including throwing a three-pitch strikeout for the second out.

Clark led off the top of the fifth with a double and advanced to third on a ground out. Sophomore Courtney Scarpato's single brought Clark home for Hofstra's first run. Hallam added a single of her own to get Scarpato to second, and Pietrafesa reached on a fielding error, allowing Scarpato to score to make it 8-2 and spoil the shutout.

But the Eagles would add another pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single from Morgan Sutherland to end the game per the run rule.

Hofstra is back in action in the FGCU/Four Points Sheraton Invitational tomorrow, taking on Wisconsin at 6 p.m. and Florida International at 8:15 p.m.