HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – The Hofstra University softball team split a Colonial Athletic Association twin bill with the University of Delaware Blue Hens on Saturday afternoon at Bill Edwards Stadium. Hofstra defeated the Blue Hens in the first game by a score of 1-0, but dropped the second contest, 11-8. Hofstra is now 15-14 on the season and 3-2 in the CAA while Delaware moves to 13-17 overall and 1-4 in league play.
 
The Pride scattered 18 total hits on the afternoon, led by freshman Jaycee Ruberti who scattered four base knocks while driving in one run. Sophomore Devyn Losco and Meghan Giordano added three hits each, while Giordano scored twice and drove in two two. With two hits, freshman Kasey Collins tallied a team-high three RBI.
 
Game 1: Hofstra 1, Delaware 0
 
Tossing her third complete-game shutout of the season, freshman Madison Burns improved her record to 9-6 on the year behind one of her best performances of her freshman campaign that included a season-high eight strikeouts, zero walks, and just four hits allowed. In all, Burns pitched four 1-2-3 innings, retired 17 of her first 18 batters and struck out all three opponents in the top of the third inning.

The Pride got a pair of hits from three players including Giordano, Ruberti, and Losco, with Losco going 2-for-2 at the dish.
 
Hofstra scored its lone run in the bottom of the second, when Giordano reached on an infield single before advancing on a fielder's choice and an error, allowing Ruberti to easily score Giordano with no outs.
 
Hofstra left two runners on base in the fourth and sixth innings with Losco reaching on a single during frames, but Hofstra's one run held up for the remainder of the way. The Blue Hens nearly leveled the game in the top of the seventh when Delaware's Anna Steinmetz drove a pitch off the right field wall, but sophomore Imani Myint read it perfectly and was able to fire from the warning track all the way to second base to keep Steinmetz off the base path.
 
Game 2: Delaware 11, Hofstra 8
 
After seeing just one run in game one, game two featured a combined 19 runs between both teams, with Hofstra out-hitting Delaware in the nightcap, 12-7. Each team went scoreless through the first two innings, but it was the visitors who scored first this time, plating two runs on one hit for an early edge.
 
After the Pride went down in order in the bottom of the third, the offense erupted, scoring five runs in the bottom of the fourth to gain a three-run advantage.  The rally started with Giordano, freshman Angelina Ioppolo and Ruberti who loaded the bases with no outs, before McKevitt was hit by a pitch to get the Pride on the scoreboard. Myint then knocked a two-run single to right field, forcing a Blue Hen pitching change. Collins would follow that up with a double down the left field line, allowing Myint and McKevitt to reach home and increase the score to 5-2, Pride.
 
The score remained the same after five innings, but the difference-maker was in the top of the sixth when Delaware plated eight runs to take back the lead and increase the score to 10-5. Hofstra answered with three runs in the bottom of the sixth with a sacrifice fly by Collins and a two-run single by Giordano with one out, but Delaware was able to retire two-straight batters to send the game into the final frame, where Delaware added one final run to make it a three-run game.
 
Freshman Mackenzie Suto got the start and threw 5.0 innings inside the circle with two strikeouts, but it was ultimately Burns (9-7) who suffered the loss, pitching 2.0 innings while allowing seven earned runs.  
 
Up Next:
Hofstra and Delaware will close out the series with a single game at Bill Edwards Stadium, tomorrow, March 31 with first pitch set for 12 p.m.