Harrisonburg, Va. – After a tight battle for four innings, No. 2 seed Hofstra Softball fell to top-seeded nationally ranked James Madison, 9-1, in five innings at Veterans Memorial Park. The Pride drop into the losers' bracket and will play the winner of a the matchup between UNCW and Charleston at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

The Pride got on the board first, with the Dukes knotting the score at one in the third. James Madison then used an eight-run fifth inning to take down Hofstra.

Junior Sarah Edwards was 2-for-3 for the Pride and is now 3-for-4 in the CAA Championships.

James Madison ace Megan Good hit Kristin Hallam with a pitch before walking Brielle Pietrafesa to lead off the first inning. With one out, Edwards dropped a double into deep left field, bringing home a run.
 
The Dukes put runners on the corners with two outs in the bottom of the first, but freshman pitcher Sarah Cornell got Rookie of the Year Odicci Alexander to ground out to third base for the final out. Cornell fanned two batters in the second to keep James Madison off the board.
 
With runners on first and second and one out, the Dukes' Taylor Newton singled into center field, but freshman Sam Tomasetti launched the throw to catcher Kaitlyne Musa at the plate to gun down the runner. A double from Alexander, however, drove in a run. With runners still at second and third, Cornell struck out Madyson Moran to prevent any more damage.
 
Edwards led off with a single to left field in the top of the fourth. Cornell stepped in to pinch run, advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt from junior Nikki Michalowski and moving to third on a ground-out, but the Dukes got another quick out to escape the inning.
 
With no outs and a runner on first in the bottom of the fourth, junior Megan Patierno made an impressive diving catch on a popped-up bunt for the first out.
 
Reminiscent of the first inning, Good hit Hallam with a pitch and walked Pietrafesa in the top of the fifth, but this time with two outs, but a fly-out ended the inning.
 
The Dukes took the lead in the bottom of the fifth, putting up eight runs, capped off by a Megan Good grand slam to end the game.
 
The Pride will face a win-or-go-home situation, taking on the winner of the matchup between the Seahawks and the Cougars at 5 p.m.