Hempstead, NY – The Hofstra softball team is set to head to Elon University for the 2022 Colonial Athletic Association Championship presented by Primis, taking place at the Hunt Softball Park from May 12-14. Hofstra is the No. 2 seed for the tournament and will face the No. 3 seed, the UNCW Seahawks this Thursday, May 12 at 1:30 p.m.
Full coverage of the CAA Softball Championship will be provided on FloSoftball, the official streaming partner of the CAA. In addition, live statistics will also be available on HofstraStats.com. In addition, WRHU will be providing live audio on WRHU 88.7 FM and on WRHU.org. All coverage links can be found at the top of this release and on the Hofstra softball schedule page on GoHofstra.com.
All-Session books are $35 for the public and $20 for students from a participating University (with a valid student ID). Individual one-day tickets are $15 each and $8 for students from a participating University (with a valid student ID). Seating at Hunt Softball Park is general admission and subject to availability.
Hofstra (21-25 overall) closed out the CAA regular season with a 13-6 overall record, the best regular season conference mark since the Pride won the CAA title in 2018. Last weekend, Hofstra recorded its sixth series win with a doubleheader sweep over Towson on the road, 2-1 and 8-4.
Meghan Giordano has been a consistent force for the Pride during the entire conference slate, batting .424 with 21 RBI's and five home runs for a .763 slugging percentage and .507 on base percentage. Three other players have batted .300 or better during CAA play as well including
Chelsea Manto (.351),
Madison McKevitt (.343) and
Amanda Maffucci (.300). Behind Giordano,
Sam Ward, the reigning CAA Player of the Week, has driven in 16 runs in CAA play while
Angelina Ioppolo has 11 RBI. On the season, Manto leads the Pride with a .363 batting average while Giordano paces the team with 31 runs driven in. During the UNCW series in April, Giordano batted 5-for-8 with five RBI's, a 1.125 slugging percentage and .700 on base percentage.
The versatile Hofstra pitching staff core consisting of
Julia Apsel,
Haley Venturini,
Annabella Pisapia, and
Nikki Mullin will look to carry the team through the CAA Championship. Recently, Venturini was named the CAA Pitcher of the Week after earning two-straight wins for the Pride while recording a 1.27 ERA with 11 strikeouts. In the UNCW series earlier this season, Mullin was 2-0 for the Pride and fired a 1.75 ERA with six strikeouts.
UNCW (29-13, 11-8 CAA) is making their fifth appearance in the CAA tournament. The Seahawks have won four of their last seven games to close out the regular season, but earlier this Spring, Hofstra took two of three games from UNCW at Bill Edwards Stadium. Janel Gamache is atop the Seahawks lineup with a .343 batting average, 29 RBI's and seven home runs. Tayler Vitola is behind Gamache with a .341 batting average and team-high 47 hits.
UNCW will rely heavily on Emily Winstead in the circle who carries a 1.72 ERA into the tournament. Winstead is joined by Kara Hammock who owns a 2.14 ERA.
A win against the Seahawks would send Hofstra into the winner's bracket on Friday. A loss pits the Pride into an elimination on Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. For the full bracket, visit the link at the top of this release.
