Hempstead, NY – Thanks to an eight-strikeout performance in the circle by Emma Falen and timely hitting with runners in scoring position, the Hofstra softball team picked up its first CAA win and first home win of the season with a 4-1 victory over visiting Towson from Bill Edwards Stadium.
 
Hofstra's win snaps a seven-game losing skid and improves the team to 2-17 overall and 1-3 in conference play. On the other end, Towson drops to 8-13 overall and 1-3 in the CAA.
 
Hofstra got on the board in the second inning thanks to an infield single by Mackenzie Fitzgerald. Dahlia Palacio delivered a single to left field, and she stole second with two outs. Fitzgerald stepped up to the plate and lined a 2-0 pitch off the glove of Towson pitcher Amanda Medina and into the outfield, allowing Palacio to slide in safely for the game's opening run.
 
Gemma D'Orazio added to the Pride's lead with a lead-off home run, the first of her collegiate career, over the right field wall in the top of the third inning to put Hofstra ahead 2-0. The home team doubled its lead in the fourth inning with a two-run single by Olivia Malinowski. Alanna Morse singled to center field and Tyler Douglas reached base on an infield single, and the two advanced on a bunt attempt by Carmella Gallagher, putting runners in scoring position with two outs. Malinowski smacked the first pitch she saw through the gap in the left side of the infield, clearing the basepaths to make it a 4-0 Hofstra lead.
 
The Tigers scored on an RBI double in the sixth inning to break the shutout bid, and they put runners on the corners in the seventh inning trailing 4-1, but Briyana Wright hit a lazy pop out to Morse at shortstop to seal Hofstra's home win.
 
Douglas, D'Orazio, Fitzgerald, Malinowski, Morse, and Palacio all finished with one hit each against the Tigers to give Hofstra six hits on the day. Falen scattered six Towson hits and one run on 99 pitches and delivered eight Ks inside the circle in the win.
 
The series continues on Saturday, March 15, at 1 p.m. from Bill Edwards Stadium.
 
NOTES:
-Hofstra improves to 83-26 all-time against Towson.
-The Pride went 2-3 with runners in scoring position, while holding Towson to 0-5.
-Palacio stole her third base of the season today.
-This was Malinowski's eighth multi-RBI game of her career.