Wilmington, NC – Julia Apsel allowed just five UNCW baserunners on three hits and two walks, and the Hofstra softball team produced six runs as the Pride shut out the Seahawks for a 6-0 win in Coastal Athletic Association action from Boseman Field.
 
Hofstra improves to 9-17 and 7-4 in the CAA following its second consecutive win. Meanwhile, UNCW is now 17-14 and 8-3 in league play.
 
With one out and Becca Vaillancourt on second after advancing on a groundout by Olivia Malinowski, Vaillancourt took advantage of a Seahawk throwing error to score after advancing to third on a groundout by Aliya Catanzarita, giving the Pride an early one-run lead. The Pride's lead grew to 3-0 after a two-run third inning. After Chelsea Manto led off the inning with a single and advanced all the way to third on a stolen base and a wild pitch, Catanzarita delivered her sixth RBI of the series on a single through the middle to easily score Manto. Catanzarita scored all the way from first on a double by Mackenzie Fitzgerald to put the score at 3-0 to the guests.
 
Apsel cruised through the Seahawk batting order until the bottom of the sixth, when UNCW got its best chance of the day to claw back into the game after a one-out walk and a two-out single put runners on second and third, but Apsel forced a groundout to Fitzgerald at third to escape the inning unscathed. The Pride plated three runs in the seventh inning to put the game well out of reach of the Seahawks. After Kayla Wilson drew a four-pitch walk to open the inning, Vaillancourt belted her sixth home run of the season to make it a 5-0 Hofstra lead, and Catanzarita drove in pinch runner Tyler Douglas with a sacrifice fly to deep right for the sixth and final run of the day.
 
Vaillancourt went 2-3 at the plate with two RBI, while Catanzarita drove in a pair of runs on one hit and a sacrifice fly, and Fitzgerald recorded her first RBI of the season. In six innings pitched, Apsel struck out three UNCW batters, and Anna Butler pitched a shutout seventh inning.
 
The series between the Pride and the Seahawks concludes on Sunday at noon from Boseman Field.
 
NOTES:
-The win was Hofstra's third consecutive over UNCW, and it runs the Pride's all-time record to 49-8.
-Hofstra has won its third CAA series of the season.
-Hofstra outhit UNCW 8-3, moving the Pride to 7-2 when outhitting its opponent this season.