Hempstead, N.Y. – Hofstra Softball won Game 1 of its Colonial Athletic Association doubleheader in walk-off fashion, taking a 6-5 victory over Towson, before dropping the second game of the day to the Tigers, 3-1.

With the team's exchanging runs for most of the game, the Pride went into the bottom of the seventh inning of Game 1 trailing Towson, 5-4, but senior Lacey Clark's two-run walk-off single gave Hofstra the win.

The Pride and the Tigers combined for nine home runs on the day. Towson scored all eight of its runs on the day on home runs, with five different players combining for six long balls.

Clark finished with 3 RBIs on the day, while junior Brielle Pietrafesa went 3-for-6 with a home run. Classmate Megan Patierno was 2-for-2 in Game 1 with a home run, and Kaitlyne Musa was 3-for-5 on the day.

GAME 1

The Pride (11-14, 2-3 CAA) got on the board first, putting up two runs in the bottom of the first. Freshman Kristin Hallam led off with a single to left field before Pietrafesa's sacrifice bunt moved Hallam to second and Patierno walked. Classmate Brittany Allocca's single was bobbled by the right fielder, allowing Hallam to come home, Patierno to take third and Allocca to advance to second. On Clark's at-bat, Towson pitcher Megan Deijter threw an illegal pitch, allowing Patierno to score.

The Tigers knotted the score in the top of the third with Daria Edwards' two-run shot over the left-field fence.

Patierno answered with a homer of her own to lead off the third, her third of the season, regaining the lead for the Pride.

Brook Miko's first long ball of the day, a solo shot, evened the game at three in the top of the fourth.

Pietrafesa led off the bottom of the fifth going yard to left field, marking her third consecutive game with a home run and her fourth of the season. Another lead-off homer, this time from Towson's Nicole Stockinger in the top of the sixth, tied the score at four.

Shelby Stracher hit the Tigers' fourth homer of the game in the top of the seventh to give Towson a 5-4 lead.

Deijter walked Pietrafesa with one out in the bottom of the seventh, before Patierno singled to left field to put Pietrafesa in scoring position and the winning run on first base. With two outs, Clark sent a single to left field, bringing Pietrafesa and Patierno home for the win.

Freshman pitcher Sarah Cornell picked up her 10th win of the season, finishing with five strikeouts and two walks in seven innings pitched.
 
GAME 2

The second game of the day began in familiar fashion, with Miko hitting another home run over the left-field fence, this time a two-run blast that scored Olivia Baltazar, to give Towson an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first.

The Pride saw a chance to even the score in the bottom of the second, with freshman Alexis Goeke earning her first career hit with a double down the left field line to advance junior Kaitlyne Musa, who had reached on a fielder's choice, to third. But a ground-out ending the threat from the Pride.

The Tigers hit their final home run of the day in the top of the fifth inning, with Kendyl Scott once again finding the spot in left field to give Towson a 3-1 lead. Freshman Alyssa Irons stepped in to relieve senior Jessica Peslak later in the inning, inheriting runners on first and second. A wild pitch allowed the runners to advance, but Irons buckled down and struck out Miko for the first out, before getting the Tigers batters to hit into ground-outs to get out of the inning unscathed.

Sophomore Courtney Scarpato and Pietrafesa both singled to right field in the bottom of the fifth, but the Pride couldn't capitalize.

Bailey Boyd popped a ball straight up over home plate to reach with one out in the top of the sixth, but the Pride turned a double-play on the next batter, with Irons firing to Clark at second base, and Clark throwing to Allocca for the out at first.

Clark scored the Pride's only run of the game in the bottom of the sixth, leading off with a solo blast for Hofstra's third long ball of the day and Clark's third of the season.

After Irons struck out the side in the top of the seventh to keep the game within reach, Hofstra attempted a rally in the bottom of the inning, with Scarpato leading off with a single through a gap right up the middle. Pietrafesa singled to right field, and Patierno reached on a fielder's choice to move Scarpato to third and put runners on the corners with Clark once again up to bat with the tying run on base, but a ground-out to shortstop sealed the win for the Tigers.

In 4.0 innings pitched, Peslak walked just one and allowed three earned runs. Irons allowed no runs, striking out four in 3.0 innings pitched.

Hofstra travels to Connecticut for a non-conference doubleheader with the Huskies at 2 p.m. on Wednesday.