Hempstead, NY – Mackenzie Fitzgerald's RBI single in the 12th inning of the Hofstra softball team's Coastal Athletic Association game against Delaware was the difference maker as the Pride claimed a 5-4 walk-off win over the Blue Hens on a blustery Saturday afternoon from Bill Edwards Stadium.
 
Hofstra's fourth consecutive win puts the team at 6-19 overall and 3-5 in the conference, while Delaware drops to 17-10 overall and 6-2 in league play.
 
With Gemma D'Orazio and Sophia Polzella on first and second, respectively, with the score even at 4-4 in the bottom of the 12th inning with no outs, Fitzgerald hit a bloop single over the third baseman and into the gap in left field on a 1-2 pitch. D'Orazio rounded third and headed for home, and the speedy freshman beat the throw home to win it for the Pride.
 
The Blue Hens got on the board first in the third inning with an RBI single to make it 1-0, but Hofstra responded with a three-run frame to lead 3-1. Anna Butler singled to put a runner on base, and D'Orazio reached base on a throwing error allowing Butler to reach third. After D'Orazio stole second, Polzella rocketed a 1-1 pitch into left field to clear the bases and put the Pride ahead by one. After Fitzgerald singled to put two runners on base, Carmella Gallagher sent a grounder up the middle for a base hit, scoring Polzella for the third run of the inning.
 
Delaware cut Hofstra's lead to one with a solo home run by Katie Scheivert in the fifth inning, and they tied the score at 3-3 in the next inning on a double over the outstretched glove of Dahlia Palacio to score Sorella Gallucci from third base.
 
Neither team was able to cross another runner home for the next four-and-a-half innings despite both sides combining for 11 baserunners as the game continued into extra innings. Delaware took a one-run lead on an RBI double in the 11th inning, but Hofstra answered right back in the bottom half of the inning with a run on a sacrifice fly to deep left by Butler, scoring Villar from third to tie the game at 4-4. Delaware got two runners on base in the top of the 12th with one out, but Emma Falen and the Hofstra defense retired the next two batters to end the inning tied. D'Orazio led the inning off with a single to left, and she swiped her second base of the day before Polzella reached first on an infield single, setting up Fitzgerald for the walk-off winner.
 
Hofstra tallied 14 hits on the day, with a career-high of four coming from Fitzgerald, while Butler, D'Orazio, Polzella, and Villar all tagged the Delaware pitchers for two hits in the win. Falen picked up her fourth win of the season with two strikeouts in six innings of relief work, while Carley Ernst struck out four Delaware batters on in a six inning start.
 
The series between the Pride and the Blue Hens concludes at 12 p.m. on Sunday, March 23.
 
NOTES:
-Hofstra is now 78-30 in the all-time series against Delaware.
-This was the first extra-inning game for the Pride this season.
-Delaware and Hofstra both had 12 runners left on base.