Columbia, S.C. – The No. 24 Hofstra Softball team dropped a dramatic 2-0 decision in 10 innings to Liberty in the opening game of NCAA Regionals on Friday night at Columbia Softball Stadium at Beckman Field.
After a pitchers' duel left the game scoreless through nine innings, Kaitlin McFarland hit a solo home run before the Flames plated a second run in the top of the 10th to take the win. The Pride (40-13) will play in an elimination game on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. against UNCG.
Sophomore pitcher
Sarah Cornell allowed just one hit and two walks through the first seven innings, finishing the game with five strikeouts in nine innings of work.
The Flames (48-12) got a runner aboard via a walk with one out in the top of the third, but redshirt-senior
Michaela Transue corralled a ground ball, stepped on the bag at second and fired to third for the double play to get out of the inning.
The Pride put runners on second and third with two outs in the bottom of the fourth via hits from seniors
Brittany Allocca and
Sarah Edwards, but a pop-up ended the inning.
Hofstra then loaded the bases in both the sixth and seventh, with sophomore
Kristin Hallam and senior
Brielle Pietrafesa singling in the sixth before Edwards reached on an error. In the seventh, seniors
Nikki Michalowski and
Kaitlyne Musa both got on via errors, and Transue walked. But in both innings, the Flames escaped unscathed, forcing extra innings.
McFarland put Liberty on the board on the first pitch of the 10th inning before Madison Via tripled to put another runner in scoring position. A defensive miscue brought Via home and sealed the win for the Flames.
The Pride returns to Columbia Softball Stadium at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. The contest will air on ESPN3.
Notes:
-Senior
Sarah Edwards extended her reached-base streak to 20 games, tied for the longest such streak by any member of the Pride this season.
-The game marked the 13th time in program history Hofstra has taken an NCAA Tournament game to extra innings. The Pride is 6-7 in those games.
-This season, Hofstra is 5-4 in extra-innings games.
-This was the first meeting between Hofstra and Liberty.
