Harrisonburg, Va. – After a back-and-forth affair early on, the No. 2 seed Hofstra Softball team took an 8-5 lead over top-seeded James Madison before the contest was suspended for lightning for nearly two hours Thursday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Park. The Pride (39-12) came out of the delay strong, holding the lead to take a 9-6 victory over nationally ranked James Madison, with the Dukes dropping to 41-11 on the season. The teams will meet again at 12 p.m. on Friday to play for the CAA title. 

Hofstra jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, with senior Brielle Pietrafesa getting on base with a single before classmate Brittany Allocca brought her home with a two-run home run to left field. The Dukes answered in the bottom of the inning with a three-run shot from Odicci Alexander to jump ahead.
 
The Pride took the lead back in the top of the third. Pietrafesa walked, and Allocca sent a single through the left side before senior Sarah Edwards banked a home run off the top of the wall in center field to give the Pride a 5-3 advantage.
 
JMU knotted the score at five in the bottom of the third, loading the bases and bringing two runs home on a Morgan Tolle two-out double.
 
Senior Megan Patierno put Hofstra ahead for good in the top of the fifth with a three-run shot to center field to score junior Courtney Scarpato, who had walked, and senior Nikki Michalowski, who was hit by a pitch.
 
After a leadoff walk to Pietrafesa and a hard-hit single from Allocca in the top of the sixth, Scarpato battled through a lengthy at bat, hitting a single up the middle to bring in a run. Freshman pitcher Sophie Dandola then retired the side in order in the bottom of the inning.
 
The Dukes managed a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, but the next three batters went down to give Hofstra the win. Dandola picked up the victory in the circle, pitching six solid innings of relief.
 
The Pride and Dukes will play for the CAA title at 12 p.m. on Friday at Veterans Memorial Park after James Madison defeated Charleston in an elimination game Thursday night. The championship will be broadcast live on CollegeSportsLive.com.
 
Notes:
-Hofstra will play for the CAA title for the 14th time in program history.
-The Pride improved to 10-6 all-time against James Madison in CAA tournament games.
-Hofstra picked up its sixth win over a nationally ranked opponent since Head Coach Larissa Anderson took over in 2015 (JMU was ranked No. 22 in the polls this week).
-Allocca is now tied for third all-time with 36 career home runs. Her 13 on the season are tied for fifth. 
-Edwards extended her reached-base streak to 17 games.
-The game was Hofstra's 19th with multiple home runs this season. The Pride has already shattered the program's single-season home run record with 65.