BOCA RATON, Fla. – Freshman
Lindsey Hay launched her first career home run in the fifth inning to put Hofstra ahead, but North Florida scored five runs in the sixth inning to get past the Hofstra softball team, 8-6, in the final game of the FAU Strike Out Cancer Invitational on Sunday.
Hofstra scattered 11 hits on the day, led by
Madison McKevitt who went 3-for-4 at the dish with two RBI. Sophomore
Jaycee Ruberti and senior
Alexis Goeke recorded multi-hit games as well with a pair of hits each. Hay's home run produced a team-high three RBI, while freshman
Jordan Pietrzykoski added an RBI double for Hofstra. Six different Pride players all scored a run, including Ruberti, Hay, Pietrzykoski, sophomore
Meghan Giordano, sophomore
Angelina Ioppolo, and sophomore
Amanda Maffucci.
Ioppolo led off the top of the second inning with a walk and eventually scored on a McKevitt line drive single to left center. In the bottom half of the inning, UNF leveled the contest with a lead-off home run by Shannon Glover. Two frames later, the Ospreys took the lead with a no-out, two-RBI single, but Hofstra worked out a jam with a double play and ground out.
Giordano and Ruberti set the table with back-to-back singles to lead off the fifth inning before Hay went yard to left field to give Hofstra a 4-3 advantage.
Another lead-off home run by the Ospreys tied things up in the sixth before UNF added four more runs on three hits while taking advantage of one Hofstra error to take an 8-4 lead. Hofstra didn't go down without a fight as Pietrzykoski and McKevitt recorded back-to-back RBI singles in their final at bats to get within two, 8-6.
Sophomore
Madison Burns (1-4) suffered the loss inside the circle and pitched 5.0 innings and two strikeouts. Morgan Clausen (4-2) earned the win for UNF.
Next up for Hofstra is the Liberty Spring Classic where the Pride will play a total of five games against five different opponents. The Pride will kick off the weekend on Friday, February 28 against Yale (9 a.m.) and Butler (11 a.m.) at Kamphius Field at Liberty Softball Stadium.
Notes:
-McKevitt hit .571 for Hofstra to lead the team for the weekend (4-for-7)
-Hofstra was scheduled to play five games at the FAU Strike Out Cancer tournament but only played three due to inclement weather on Saturday
-Ruberti, Goeke, and Collins all had three hits this week
-Hay led Hofstra with four RBI across the three games
