Mt. Pleasant, SC – The Hofstra softball team battled hosts Charleston for much of Thursday's series opener before pulling away late for a 7-3 Pride win over the Cougars from Patriots Point Complex. Hofstra's record improves to 20-23 and 16-9 in the Coastal Athletic Association with its fifth consecutive win, and Charleston drops to 9-38 and 3-22 in league play.
Hofstra got the first run on the board in the opening inning thanks to bases-loaded infield single by
Alanna Morse to score
Kayla Wilson and make it 1-0 Pride. The Cougars evened the score in the third inning when the baserunner on third stole home on a double steal, but Hofstra quickly retook the lead in the next inning on a two-run single to score
Chelsea Manto and
Mackenzie Fitzgerald and make it a 3-1 Hofstra lead.
After
Gabriella Sultan drove in the fourth Hofstra run of the day in the fifth inning, Charleston clawed back with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to make it a one-run game. After
Becca Vaillancourt and
Olivia Malinowski hit back-to-back sixth inning singles,
Aliya Catanzarita laced a double over the head of the Charleston centerfielder to the wall to score Vaillancourt from third and give Hofstra a two-run gap against the Cougars. In the seventh inning, Hofstra scored its sixth run of the game on a force out at first after a Wilson hit a dribbler to the pitcher, and
Nicole Cancel made it 7-3 Hofstra after capitalizing on a Cougar throwing error attempting to get Vaillancourt out at first.
This week's CAA Co-Pitcher of the Week,
Julia Apsel pitched a complete game to earn her 17th win of the season, tying a personal-best with 12 strikeouts against Charleston. Vaillancourt and Malinowski both went 2-5 at the plate versus the Cougars, with Vaillancourt driving in a pair of RBIs.
NOTES:
-Hofstra's all-time record against Charleston improves to 17-8 after today's win.
-Vaillancourt recorded her 14th multi-hit and seventh multi-RBI game of the season.
-Today was Apsel's fourth game with at least 10 strikeouts this season and sixth game without a walk in 2024.
-Wilson has reached base safely in 10 consecutive games.
