Newark, Del. – The Hofstra softball team split a pair of games with the Delaware Blue Hens at the Delaware Softball Diamond on Saturday afternoon. Following the day, Hofstra moved to 16-22 overall and 9-4 in the Colonial Athletic Association while Delaware is now 27-14 overall and 10-4 in the CAA.
 
Madison McKevitt led the Pride with a 4-for-6 day at the plate with two doubles and three RBI, while Kasey Collins also had four hits and two runs scored. Angelina Ioppolo, Sam Ward, Amanda Maffucci, and Aliya Catanzarita all had a trio of hits, while Meghan Giordano tied for a team-high three RBI with a three-run home run in game one.
 
Game 1: Hofstra 6, Delaware 5
 
Hofstra found itself in a 4-0 hole with no outs by the fifth batter of the game as a two-run home run and two-RBI double by the Blue Hens put the home team up early. Annabella Pisapia entered the circle for the Pride and retired three of her next four batters with a ground out and two strikeouts.
 
In the top of the second inning, Hofstra put its first four runners on base as Ward walked before Catanzarita, McKevitt and Maffucci strung together a trio of singles, with Maffucci's base knock sending Ward home for Hofstra's first run of the game. The hot bats continued to flow into the third as the Pride compiled three doubles including a deep lead-off double by Giordano followed by back-to-back RBI extra base hits by Catanzarita and McKevitt, bringing the Pride within one run.
 
Hofstra overcame the four-run deficit in the fourth as Chelsea Manto and Collins notched two consecutive base hits up the middle before Giordano crushed her fifth home run of the season, a three-run shot over the center field wall, putting Hofstra up by two, 6-4.
 
After two and a half quiet innings, Delaware did not go down easy as Brooke Glanden added one more Blue Hen run with an RBI double to bring the score back within one. Haley Venturini replaced Annabella Pisapia in the circle in a tough situation with runners on second and third with one out, but Venturini slammed the door shut with a looking strikeout and ground out to end the Blue Hen threat.
 
Pisapia (2-2) earned the win and pitched a phenomenal 6.1 innings in relief inside the circle, striking out seven batters while surrounding just one run. Pisapia retired 11 consecutive batters at one point and allowed just five hits. Venturini clinched her first save of the season with her clutch two-thirds of an inning of work. 
 
Game 2: Delaware 8, Hofstra 5
 
McKevitt drove in the first two runs of the nightcap as she hit an opposite-field double in the second inning, scoring Ioppolo and Ward who led off the stanza with back-to-back base hits. Delaware responded in the bottom half of the inning with seven runs, including three unearned, bringing the score to 7-2 in favor of the Blue Hens.
 
In the third, Collins led off with an infield single and Giordano drew a four-pitch walk before Ioppolo moved the runners over with a sacrifice bunt. Sam Ward delivered her biggest hit of the day and drove in both runs with an extra-base knock to center field, cutting the Hofstra deficit to three runs. Hofstra added another tally in the top of the fifth inning as Catanzarita scored on a fielder's choice after recording a one-out single earlier in the inning, but Delaware added an extra insurance run in the sixth to stretch the Blue Hen lead back out to three.  
 
McKevitt and Losco drew a pair of singles in the top of the seventh to keep Hofstra alive, but a fly out ended the second game as Saturday's action finished with a split.
 
Venturini (5-7) took the loss inside the circle while Nikki Mullin pitched five innings in relief and surrendered just one earned run.
 
Up Next:
Hofstra and Delaware will battle it out in the rubber match of the series tomorrow, April 24 at the Delaware Softball Diamond. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
 
Notes:
-Hofstra matched a season-high of 13 hits in game one and also scattered 11 hits in game two
-Devyn Losco caught one runner stealing in game one and has thrown out four runners stealing in her last six games
-Hofstra is now 74-26 all-time against Delaware