Wilmington, NC – Facing bitter rivals Stony Brook for the fifth time this season and the second time in two days, the Hofstra softball team got the better of the Seawolves with a 2-0 win to advance the six-seed Pride to the next round of the 2024 CAA Softball Championship from Boseman Field in Wilmington, North Carolina. 

Hofstra opened the fourth inning with a lead-off double by Olivia Malinowski and Aliya Catanzarita reached base on a Stony Brook throwing error. After Chelsea Villar advanced Malinowski to third and Catanzarita to second, Alanna Morse drew first blood for the Pride with a bouncing single through the middle to score Malinowski and put the score at 1-0. Hofstra doubled its lead in the sixth inning on a line-drive base hit from Mackenzie Fitzgerald, scoring pinch runner Tyler Douglas from second. 

Julia Apsel dominated the Seawolves, striking out eight batters and allowing only three hits and two walks. Fitzgerald and Malinowski delivered two hits for the Pride against Stony Brook, while Catanzarita, Morse, Chelsea Manto, and Kayla Wilson also tallied hits, and Fitzgerald drew the lone Hofstra walk. 

Hofstra sits at 23-25 with the win, and the loss puts three-seed Stony Brook's record at 35-17 to end the season after a 3-0 loss to two-seed Delaware earlier on Thursday. The Pride will face top-seed and regular season CAA champions Campbell at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, May 10. 

NOTES: 
-The Pride snaps a four-game losing streak against Stony Brook and improves its all-time record to 22-12. 
-Hofstra has eliminated Stony Brook for the second consecutive CAA Championship. 
-Stony Brook stranded six runners on base.