Hempstead, NY – After being held to a combined three runs in the two previous games against Drexel, including one run in Saturday's loss against the Dragons, the Hofstra softball team scored five runs in a 5-3 win over Drexel to take the series against the Dragons from Bill Edwards Stadium.
Hofstra is now 6-12 and 4-2 in the CAA following Sunday's win over the Dragons, while Drexel falls to 5-13 and 2-3 against league competition.
The Pride drew first blood against the Dragons in the second inning. With one out and the bases loaded after a double by
Aliya Catanzarita, a single by
Mackenzie Fitzgerald, and a walk drawn by
Kayla Wilson,
Alanna Morse drew the force-out at first with a grounder to the Drexel shortstop, allowing Catanzarita to cross home for the opening run of the day.
As
Julia Apsel continued to pitch marvelously for the Pride, the hosts broke the game open with a three-run fifth inning to make it 4-0 Hofstra.
Chelsea Villar drove in the second run of the game on a groundout to the pitcher, allowing Morse to score from third and
Nicole Cancel to advance from second to third. On the very next at-bat,
Becca Vaillancourt slammed a 2-2 pitch well over the wall in left field for her third home run of the season, bringing in two Pride runs to put the Pride on top by four.
Drexel threatened to tie the game in the top of the sixth with a three-run sixth inning. Drexel scored its first run of the day with an RBI double by Jackie Masone, scoring Grace Abbonizio from second to maie it a three-run deficit. After Mason advanced to third on the next at-bat, Ameryn Humble drove her home with a single through the infield into right field, and Humble scored on a two-out single by Lindsey Hunt before Apsel forced a pop out by Ashley Errico. The Pride added an insurance run in the bottom half of the inning thanks to an RBI from Villar. With the bases loaded and one out, Villar reached first base on a fielder's choice bloop into the outfield, scoring Morse for the run while
Chelsea Manto was called out at second base. Apsel secured the win with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
Vaillancourt led the Pride with two hits in four at-bats and two RBI, while Catanzarita, Manto, Morse,
Olivia Malinowski, and
Gabriella Sultan all delivered hits against the Dragons. In the circle, Apsel went the distance for her fifth win of the season with three strikeouts.
Hofstra is on the road for its next five consecutive games, starting off on Tuesday against UMBC at 1 p.m.
NOTES:
-Hofstra is now 79-19 all-time against Drexel.
-Vaillancourt has surpassed her previous single-season home run tally of two from her time at UMass-Lowell in 2022.
-Apsel pitched her fifth complete-game of the season.
-With a double, Catanzarita extends her on-base streak to nine games.
-Manto has had a hit in six consecutive games.
