Hempstead, N.Y. – Hofstra Softball picked up a huge win over No. 10 James Madison, taking a 5-2 victory Sunday afternoon at Bill Edwards Stadium.
The win, the Pride's first over a ranked team since a 3-2 win over No. 20 Notre Dame in 2015 and first over a top-10 team since a a 10-0 blowout of No. 8 Missouri in 2013, moved Hofstra to 10-12 on the year and 1-2 in Colonial Athletic Association play.
Sarah Cornell earned the win in the circle for the Pride, becoming the first freshman pitcher to record a victory over a ranked opponent since Olivia Galati got the win over No. 18 Missouri on March 13, 2010.
The Pride also ruined Dukes' ace Megan Good's hope for a perfect season, dealing Good her first loss of the campaign and ending an 18-game unbeaten streak. The Hofstra victory also halted the Dukes' 11-game team win streak. James Madison dropped to 26-4 and 2-1 in CAA play with the loss.
A big inning for the Pride in the bottom of the third served as the difference-maker as Hofstra capitalized on a number of defensive misplays from James Madison to put up four runs after trailing, 2-1.
Junior
Brielle Pietrafesa reached on an error by the Dukes shortstop Paige Mitchell, who bobbled the ball and was unable to throw Pietrafesa out. A passed ball then allowed Pietrafesa to advance to second, before classmate
Megan Patierno was walked by Good. Junior Brittany Alloca then laid down a bunt that caused confusion in the infield, allowing her to reach first safely. Another passed ball brought Pietrafesa home before senior
Lacey Clark singled and advanced to second on a misplayed ball by the left fielder as Patierno and Allocca came home. A third passed ball with two outs brought Clark to third, and she scored on an RBI double from junior
Kaitlyne Musa for the fourth run of the inning and the 5-2 lead. A ground-out to Good ended the inning as Hofstra used three hits and two errors to take the lead it would never relinquish.
It was Good who had opened the scoring in the first inning, blasting a home run to give James Madison a 1-0 lead.
But Pietrafesa answered back in the bottom of the first, with a long ball over the right-field fence off Good to knot the score at one, marking just the fourth earned run Good has allowed this season.
The Dukes regained the lead in the top of the third, with Madison Naujokas scoring on Morgan Tolle's shot that dropped into center field.
Cornell held steady with Hofstra leading 5-2, pitching four more scoreless innings. Taylor Newton hit a lead-off single in the top of the sixth, hoping to spark a rally for the Dukes, but Odicci Alexander grounded to second on the next at-bat, and Clark scooped it up, tagged second and threw to first for the double play.
Mitchell once again tried to kick-start the JMU offense with another lead-off single in the top of the seventh. Michaela Pellegrino stepped in to pinch-run for Mitchell and advanced to second on a ground-out, but Morgan Tolle flied out to center field for the final out of the game.
Cornell (9-5) allowed just two runs from the team that put up 12 hits on her in a 10-1 run-rule loss the day before, finishing with one walk and three strikeouts in the complete-game victory.
After only surrendering one hit to the Pride on Saturday, Good allowed six hits in Sunday's contest, but struck out nine in 5.0 innings before Jessica McCabe replaced her in the bottom of the sixth.
Hofstra stays at home but steps out of conference for a midweek matchup with Rutgers at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Bill Edwards Stadium.
