Philadelphia, Pa. – The Hofstra softball team opened up another Colonial Athletic Association series on Friday afternoon against Drexel, but the Dragons came from behind to take the first meeting by a score of 8-5.
 
Sophomore Chelsea Manto was 3-for-4 on the day with two doubles, while junior Meghan Giordano went 2-for-2 with a home run and two walks. Sophomore Aliya Catanzarita added a pair of hits for Hofstra, while freshman Brianna Morse tallied one hit, a two-run homer in the second. Graduate student Kristin Hallam and senior Devyn Losco both had a base hit in the series opener.
 
After leading off the second inning with a walk, Catanzarita turned hard on a pitch and hit a sizzling line drive down the left field line, causing the left fielder to mis-handle the ball and Losco to score from frist base. Two at-bats later, Morse slapped her second home run of the season over the left-center field wall, giving Hofstra an early 3-0 advantage. Hofstra extended that lead to four runs when Giordano took an up-and-away pitch over the center field wall, her second blast of her 2021 campaign.
 
Drexel did most of its damage in the bottom of the third inning, when the nation's leader in batting average and RBI, Linda Rush, tripled down the right field line to plate two Dragons. Drexel added three more runs in the frame and two more in the fourth, taking a 7-4 lead over the Pride.
 
Hofstra cut the Dragon lead to two runs in the top of the sixth when Giordano singled through the right side and advanced to second on an error, causing Ruberti to score from second base. Drexel stole that run back in the sixth with a sacrifice fly, and Hofstra went down in order in the top of the seventh to end the series opener.
 
Freshman Annabella Pisapia (3-1) suffered her first loss of the season inside the circle as she pitched 4.0 innings in relief, surrendering nine hits and four earned runs. Junior Madison Burns got the start and tossed two innings with one strikeout.
 
Hofstra and Drexel are back at it tomorrow afternoon for a doubleheader. First pitch for game one at the Drexel Softball Field is at 12 p.m.
 
Notes-
-Hofstra is now 71-13 in the all-time series against Drexel
-Hofstra saw its consecutive stolen base streak come to an end at 36. The Pride, who leads the nation with 3.61 stolen bases per game, went 3-of-5 on stolen base attempts for the day.
-Hofstra and Drexel left a combined 17 runners on base