Hempstead, NY – The Hofstra softball team hosted its first Colonial Athletic Association series of the season with a Friday afternoon doubleheader against Monmouth from Bill Edwards Stadium. The Pride dropped game one by a score of 9-2 before posting a 6-5 comeback win over the Hawks in the second game.
Hofstra's record stands at 10-16 overall and 4-1 in the CAA, and Monmouth's record sits at 4-17 overall and 4-4 in league play.
Game #1: Monmouth 9, Hofstra 2
Monmouth jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Mackenzie Bloss hit an RBI triple to make it 1-0, and Bri Lawson drove Bloss home for the second run of the inning with a single to left field. The Hawks added to their lead in the third inning, as Devin Coia hit doubled to center field, bringing Bloss home to make it 3-0 to the visitors, but the Pride chipped away at the lead with an
Angelina Ioppolo RBI single in the bottom of the third to trail by two runs.
After a scoreless fourth inning, Monmouth broke the game open with a six-run fifth inning to take a commanding 9-1 lead over the Pride.
Meghan Giordano brought Hofstra one run closer to the Hawks with her sixth home run of the season over the center field wall in the bottom of the fifth, but it would be the final run in the game for either side.
Giordano, Ioppolo,
Kasey Collins,
Madison McKevitt, and
Chelsea Manto all recorded hits for the Pride in the first game, while Collins, Manto, and McKevitt also reached base on walks.
Haley Venturini started and pitched 4.1 innings with eight strikeouts while giving up six runs on six hits and two walks.
Nikki Mullin pitched 2.2 innings of relief and struck out one Monmouth batter while allowing three runs on four hits and one walk.
Game #2: Hofstra 6, Monmouth 5
Hofstra jumped out to an early 1-0 lead thanks to an RBI from
Brianna Morse. Morse slapped a single through the infield and into center field, allowing Collins to round third and score in the top of the first inning. Monmouth tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the fifth when pinch runner Lexi Casteaneda, seeing teammate Kiley O'Rourke in a pickle on the basepath, easily advanced home.
The Pride would go back in front in the bottom half of the inning off the bat of
Brianna Morse. Following a single by Giordano and a bunt single from Ioppolo, Morse stepped up to the plate and sent a 3-1 pitch over the left field wall, putting the Pride ahead 4-1. Hofstra's lead didn't last, as the Hawks plated four runs in the top of the sixth to pull in front by one. In the bottom of the sixth, with the bases loaded after walks to Collins and Giordano and an single by Ioppolo,
Olivia Malinowski came in as a pinch hitter and drove a 2-0 pitch into left field, bringing home Collins and Giordano and giving Hofstra a 6-5 lead over the Hawks.
Ioppolo and Morse both tallied three hits in the second game against Monmouth, and the four RBIs are a new single-game career-high for Morse.
Julia Apsel started the game for the Pride and went 5.2 innings with two strikeouts against eight hits, five runs, and two walks.
Annabella Pisapia came in for the final 1.1 inning and retired all four batters she faced, earning her her first win of the season.
The teams conclude the three-game series on Sunday at 1 p.m. from Bill Edwards Stadium.
NOTES:
-Hofstra is now 3-1 all-time against Monmouth. This was the first meeting between the two sides since the 2003 season.
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Brianna Morse recorded the second three-hit game of her career. The first came in 2021 against Delaware.
-The 13 Hofstra hits in the second game are tied for the most in a game this season.
