Towson, MD –
Chelsea Manto rewrote the Hofstra softball record books as the program's top base stealer with a pair of stolen bases as the Pride split a Friday doubleheader against Towson to open its Coastal Athletic Association schedule. The Pride won the first game 8-1 before being defeated 6-1 in game two by the Tigers from Tiger Softball Stadium in Towson, Maryland.
Hofstra is now 3-10 and 1-1 in the CAA, and Towson stands at 8-11 and 1-1 in league play following the Friday doubleheader.
Game #1: Hofstra 8, Towson 1
With Manto on second after a lead-off single and a stolen base – tying her with Kristin Hallam for the most stolen bases in a career at Hofstra – and one out,
Becca Vaillancourt sent a 2-0 pitch over the left field wall to give Hofstra and early 2-0 lead over the Tigers, and Vaillancourt upped the Pride's lead to 3-0 with an RBI single in the third inning, scoring Manto again.
Towson cut the deficit to two runs with a fielder's choice RBI in the fifth inning, but Hofstra broke the game open with a three-run sixth inning. With runners on first and third,
Alanna Morse slapped a single into right field, where the Towson right fielder misplayed the ball and allowed it to scoot away from her, giving
Kayla Wilson and pinch-runner
Tyler Douglas the opportunity to score and make it a 5-1 contest. On the very next at-bat,
Chelsea Villar stepped up in a pinch-hitter role and drove home Morse with a single through the middle of the infield, giving Hofstra a 6-1 lead.
The Pride added a pair of extra insurance runs in the top of the seventh to secure the seven-run win over the Tigers. After
Lily Yepez singled to open the inning,
Aliya Catanzarita blasted a pitch off the wall in center field to score Yepez. Catanzarita would come home after advancing to third on a SAC fly from
Mackenzie Fitzgerald and scoring on a Wilson single.
Wilson went a perfect 3-3 with a triple and a drawn walk, while Vaillancourt finished the first game 2-4 with a trio of RBI.
Julia Apsel picked up her second win of the season on six innings pitched with three strikeouts.
Anna Butler recorded her second save of the season with a one-two-three seventh inning.
Game #2: Towson 6, Hofstra 1
The tables turned in the second half of Friday's doubleheader, with Towson plating three runs in the opening inning. Elizabeth Yoskowitz singled in the opening run, and Cori Jones drove in two runs with a triple to right to give the Tigers an early 3-0 lead. The Pride clawed back with a run in the second inning, as Catanzarita took advantage of a passed ball to cross home plate to make the score 3-1, but Towson scored a run in each of the final three innings to defeat the Pride and split the doubleheader.
Manto went 2-3 in game two for the Pride, while Malinowski, Vaillancourt, and Yepez all tallied hits against the Tigers.
Annabella Pisapia pitched the first 2.2 innings of the game and received the loss, while
Haley Venturini pitched 1.1 innings and recorded a strikeout, and
Marisa Ogden pitched the final two innings and struck out one Towson batter.
The series concludes against the Tigers on Sunday with a 1 p.m. first pitch.
NOTES:
-Hofstra's all-time record against Towson is now 81-26. The teams have split 4-4 in the last eight meetings.
-Wilson's triple was the first of her career.
-With two home runs on the year, Vaillancourt matches her home run total from her time at UMass Lowell.
-Manto's 84 career stolen bases currently places her fourth for the most stolen bases in a career in CAA history. She needs nine swipes to pass Charleston's Taylor DuPree (92, 2015-18) to move into third.
