Lynchburg, VA – The Hofstra softball team began its stay at the Liberty Softball Classic with a pair of defeats from Liberty Softball Stadium. The Pride dropped to 0-7 on the year with a 4-0 loss against Charleston Southern and a 5-4 loss to Radford.
 
Game 1: Charleston Southern 4, Hofstra 0
Hofstra was limited to five hits against the Buccaneers in the first contest of the day. Hofstra's best scoring opportunity of the game came in the bottom of the second after Olivia Malinowski drew a lead-off walk, Tyler Douglas reached first safely on a bunt, and Nicole Cancel walked to load the bases with two outs, but Chelsea Villar flied out to left to strand the three baserunners.
 
Charleston Southern took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning on a two-run double, and the Buccaneers added another two runs with back-to-back RBI doubles in the top of the fifth. Hofstra had an opportunity to cut into Charleston Southern's lead in the bottom of the seventh after Alanna Morse singled and Cancel drew a one-out walk to put runners at first and second, but the Pride couldn't advance either of them home before the final out.
 
Douglas, Malinowski, Morse, Anna Butler, and Mackenzie Fitzgerald all recorded hits against Charleston Southern. Emma Falen went five innings inside the circle and struck out three Buccaneer batters, while Haley Venturini recorded one strikeout in two innings of work.
 
Game 2: Radford 5, Hofstra 4
After Radford scored on an RBI single in the bottom of the first inning to lead 1-0, Hofstra responded with a four-run second inning to take a 4-1 lead. Olivia Malinowski led off the inning with a single, followed by a single from Tyler Douglas. After Alanna Morse advanced the baserunners and following a walk from Nicole Cancel, the Pride evened the score when Gemma D'Orazio was hit by a pitch. Chelsea Villar gave Hofstra the lead with an infield single to score Douglas, and Dahlia Palacio drove in Villar and D'Orazio with a triple to deep in the outfield.
 
Radford cut the Hofstra lead to one run with a two-run second inning. The teams left a combined seven runners on base following the second inning as neither team could add to its run total. Following a lead-off strikeout by Carley Ernst in the bottom of the seventh inning, Amanda Lee reached base after being hit by a pitch, and Isabel Harrison evened the score at 4-4 with a triple to center. On the next at-bat, Cassi Barbato drove in the winning run with an RBI single to center.
 
Douglas, Palacio, and Villar all recorded two hits against the Highlanders, while Malinowski and Anna Butler tallied one hit apiece in the game. Ernst went the distance in the circle for Hofstra, pitching all seven innings and striking out four Radford batters.
 
Hofstra concludes its time at the Liberty Softball Classic on Sunday with a doubleheader against Charleston Southern and hosts Liberty. The Pride will face the Buccaneers at 10 a.m. and the Flames at noon.
 
NOTES:
-Hofstra is now 0-1 all-time against Charleston Southern and 0-2 all-time against Radford.
-Dahlia Palacio stole the first base of her collegiate career against Charleston Southern.
-Hofstra stranded six Charleston Southern and Radford baserunners.