Hempstead, N.Y. – The Hofstra softball team is in search of its third-straight Colonial Athletic Association series win this weekend at James Madison. The Pride and the Dukes will play a set of three games beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 9 at 1 and 3:30 p.m. before closing out the weekend with a single-game at 1 p.m. All games are at James Madison's Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park.
 
All three games will be streamed live on FloSoftball. In addition, live stats will be available all weekend long. Coverage links can be found at the top of this release and on the Hofstra softball schedule page on GoHofstra.com.
 
Last weekend, Hofstra (11-18 4-1 CAA) defeated Charleston twice at Bill Edwards Stadium. The Pride earned two thrilling victories over the Cougars, the first a come-from-behind 9-7 victory before winning on a walk-off single by Olivia Malinowski in game two. Hofstra's 4-1 start has the Pride a half-game ahead of four other teams entering this weekend's CAA competition.
Leadoff batter Chelsea Manto continues to pace Hofstra with a .375 batting average and 39 hits. Angelina Ioppolo (14 RBI) and Meghan Giordano (12 RBI) have been responsible for a bulk of Hofstra's run production, tallying a combined 26 runs batted in. In the circle, Haley Venturini continues to lead the Hofstra staff with a 2.73 ERA and 60 strikeouts through 56.1 innings of work. Julia Apsel has pitched a team-high 75.2 innings and owns a 3.15 ERA with 48 strikeouts.

James Madison (15-16, 4-2 CAA) is entering the contest coming off of a mid-week loss to Virginia, 7-1 on Saturday. Last weekend, the Dukes dropped two of three games to UNCW, with the win occurring in game two on Saturday, 3-2 in nine innings. All three games were low scoring; 2-1, 3-2 and 3-1. Hannah Shifflett leads the team with a .412 batting average, 31 RBI and 12 home runs, while Jasmine Hall follows with a .383 batting average. Hallie Hall is second on the team with 33 hits and a .337 average to go along with 20 RBI.
 
Alissa Humphrey is the Dukes' go-to-arm with over 100 innings of work inside the circle. Humphrey owns a 3.81 ERA with 104 strikeouts. Meredith Wells leads the staff with a 2.96 ERA through just 26 innings pitched. Alexis Bermudez (3.76 ERA) is second on the squad with 39 strikeouts.
 
Hofstra is 40-25 all-time against James Madison.