WILMINGTON, N.C. – The Hofstra softball team scored three of the game's final four runs, but fell short by a score of 6-3 in the deciding Colonial Athletic Association contest at UNCW on Sunday afternoon at Boseman Field.
Hofstra falls to 20-25 overall and 7-11 in CAA play while UNCW sneaks above .500, moving to 26-25 on the year and 8-10 in the conference.
The Pride tallied five total hits including two by senior
Lydia Witkowski who finished her day 2-for-3 at the plate with one run. Senior
Courtney Scarpato, freshman
Angelina Ioppolo and junior
Alexis Goeke each had one hit, led by Goeke who recorded a two-run single in the fifth. Along with Witkowski junior
Kristin Hallam and freshman
Kasey Collins scored one run each, while Collins drew a team-high two walks.
Freshman
Madison Burns (13-12) suffered the loss, pitching 6.0 innings while surrendering six earned runs with one strikeout. UNCW's Haley Lenderman (10-13) earned the win, while Laurel Koontz recorded a save.
UNCW got all the offense it would need in the second inning, crossing five runs on five hits to open up the contest. Neither team scored in the third or fourth inning, but the Pride got back in it after scoring three times in fifth inning. Hofstra loaded the bases with no outs, before freshman
Meghan Giordano walked in a run to break up the shutout and Goeke scored two in a base hit to center field, trimming the UNCW lead to two runs. After a Seahawk pitching change, Hofstra was retired two times in a row which stranded two runners on base.
The home team added one insurance run in the bottom of the fifth, and Hofstra was unable to put any more runners on base during its final two at bats as UNCW clinched the series.
Hofstra will close out the regular season at Bill Edwards Stadium on Friday, May 3 and Saturday, May 4. Friday's doubleheader will start at 5 p.m., and Saturday's single game will begin at 1 p.m. On Saturday, the Hofstra Softball program will honor its two seniors,
Courtney Scarpato and
Lydia Witkowski prior to the contest.
Notes:
-Hofstra is now 42-6 against UNCW in the all-time series
-Giordano had one RBI and is now tied for third all-time in RBI in a single season with Crystal Boyd (1992) and
Brittany Allocca (2018). Giordano needs two more to tie for second.
-Hallam increased her single-season stolen base record to 32. She has 53 career swipes which is second on the career list at Hofstra. She needs two more to set a career stolen bases record.
-As a team, Hofstra has 71 stolen bases on the season which is second all-time in a single season at Hofstra and the most since 2006. The Pride need five more to break a single-season stolen base record.
