FIRST PITCH
Hofstra will play at Bill Edwards Stadium for the first time in 2019 as LIU Brooklyn makes the short trip to Hempstead. Hofstra, who is on a five-game win-streak and is coming off a perfect 4-0 record at the St. John's Invitational, enters the game with an 11-11 overall record while LIU Brooklyn enters the contest at 15-11 overall, most recently coming off a 2-3 record at the USF Michelle Smith Pediatric Cancer Spring Invitational in Clearwater, Fla.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
Hofstra leads the all-time series over LIU, 22-9. The series dates back to the 1952 season in Hofstra softball's second year of existence, when the Pride won, 16-3. The last time the teams met was April 18, 2018 when Hofstra won, 13-4 in six innings.
 
HOW TO WATCH
There will be Pride Productions Live Audio of the game as well as live statistics. Links to all three can be found at the top of this page and on the Hofstra Softball schedule page.
 
ABOUT HOFSTRA
Hofstra has been on a roll as of late, and is now riding a five-game win-streak while coming out victorious in nine of its last 10 games. Most recently, the Pride went a perfect 4-0 at the St. John's Invitational with two wins over Wagner and also St. John's and Holy Cross.
 
The Hofstra bats have been on fire recently, posting double digit hit totals in six of the last seven games, including a season-high 22 hit performance against Wagner on March 17. Prior to the run, Hofstra had only posted 10 hits or more in two of 15 games.
 
For their efforts this past week, junior shortstop Kristin Hallam and freshman second baseman Kasey Collins were named the Colonial Athletic Association Pitcher and Rookie of the Week, respectively, after both having extremely successful weekends at the dish for the Pride. During the last 10 games, Hallam is leading the Pride in batting average, hitting .514 with seven RBI and a team-high 15 runs scored. Hallam is a key runner on the base paths as well, as she is 11-for-11 in stolen base attempts during the last 10 contests and has reached base safely in 21 of the last 21 games. Giordano has been a solid playmaker as well, as she is hitting .500 during the 10-game stretch with two doubles, five home runs, and 15 RBI for a slugging percentage of 1.067.
 
During the Pride's 4-0 weekend at the St. John's Invitational, Collins led Hofstra with a .571/.714/.625 slash line while driving in four runs and also scoring four. Collins, who is batting .444 over the last 10 games, is also joined by senior Courtney Scarpato who is hitting .441 during the span with 17 RBI and four home runs. She has provided a lot of power in the lineup, slugging .853 as of late.
 
Both pitchers have stepped up recently for the Pride, but freshman Madison Burns is 6-0 in her last six starts, pitching 43.0 innings while surrendering just 11 earned runs for an ERA of 1.79. Freshman Mackenzie Suto is boating a 1.03 ERA during the stretch, tossing 20.1 innings while surrendering just three earned runs and allowing hitters to only a .185 batting average.
 
ABOUT LIU BROOKLYN
LIU Brooklyn enters the contest with a 15-11 overall record, and is led at the plate by Patricia Griffin who is the lone Blackbird that is hitting above .300 and is just above with a .307 batting average on the year. Schae Dickson has been a majority of LIU's run production as she has scored 17 times while also leading in RBI with 15. Kiana Cisneros and Alina Castillo have also been forces at the plate, as each player has tallied over 20 hits this season.
 
Elena Valenzuela is LIU Brooklyn's go-to hurler, as she is 8-3 this year inside the circle with a 2.22 ERA, striking out 34 batters in 82.0 innings pitched. She has also pitched seven complete games with four shutouts this year. For her efforts, she was named the Northeast Conference Pitcher and Rookie of the Week for three-straight weeks.
 
UP NEXT
Hofstra will play its first CAA series on Saturday, March 23 and Sunday, March 24 at Charleston. The Pride will kick off the weekend with a doubleheader, set to begin at 12 p.m. at the Charleston Softball Stadium, before closing out the weekend with a single game on Sunday against the Cougars, also at noon.