Newark, Del. – The Hofstra Softball team stayed unbeaten in Colonial Athletic Association play and extended its win streak to nine games with a pair of wins at Delaware on Saturday afternoon at UD Softball Complex. The Pride took Game 1, 6-0, before winning Game 2, 13-5, in six innings.
Hofstra improved to 27-8 on the season and 11-0 in CAA play, while the Blue Hens dropped to 10-27 and 2-9 in conference.
Senior
Brielle Pietrafesa was 3-for-4 with four RBIs in Game 1, while junior
Courtney Scarpato was 3-for-5 with five RBIs and senior
Brittany Allocca was 3-for-3 with four RBIs and two walks in Game 2.
Game 1:
The Pride got on the board with its second batter of the day, as Pietrafesa doubled to the wall in right-center to bring home sophomore
Kristin Hallam, who walked to lead off. Senior
Megan Patierno then doubled Hofstra's lead on the first pitch of the second inning, sending a home run over the left-field fence.
Redshirt-senior
Michaela Transue dropped a single into left field in the top of the sixth to score senior
Nikki Michalowski, who had doubled to lead off and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from senior
Kaitlyne Musa.
Musa singled into center field with one out in the top of the seventh, before Transue walked. Pietrafesa then drilled her 10th home run of the season over the left-field fence with two outs to push the Pride's lead to 6-0.
Sophomore pitcher
Sarah Cornell (16-5) had a strong outing in the circle, striking out 10 and allowing just two hits in the complete-game victory, her fifth solo shutout of the season.
Game 2:
Allocca's two-run home run opened the scoring in the top of the first in Game 2. But the Blue Hens answered in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases and bringing in two runs.
Hallam tripled in the top of the second with two outs, but Delaware stranded her and scored two more in the bottom of the inning to take a 4-2 lead.
The Pride responded with authority in the top of the third, including four RBIs for Scarpato. She opened drove in the first two runs of the inning before scoring on an error. Michalowski, Transue and Allocca each tacked on RBI hits before Scarpato brought in two more after Hofstra had hit through the lineup to cap the offensive onslaught with an 11-4 advantage.
Scarpato drove in another run in the top of the fifth with a single to right-center for a 12-4 lead.
The Blue Hens pulled a run back in the bottom of the fifth on a Giovanna Kolofer single.
After Hallam hit her second triple of the game in the top of the sixth, senior
Sarah Edwards singled through the right side to give Hofstra the 13-5 advantage.
The Pride closes the series at Delaware on Sunday at 12 p.m.
Notes:
-Pietrafesa's 10th home run of the season marks just the 14th time in program history that a member of the Pride has hit double-digit homers in a season.
-Cornell's 10-strikeout performance was her sixth game this season throwing double-digit Ks.
-Hallam tied the program record for most triples in a game with two.
-Scarpato has 13 RBIs in her past six games.
-Hofstra's 15 hits in Game 2 tied a season high.
