2Buies Creek, NC – Pitcher Emma Falen pitched another gem for the Hofstra softball team in Coastal Athletic Association play, as the Pride opened its three-game series against Campbell with a 4-0 shutout win from Amanda Littlejohn Stadium.
 
Hofstra moves to 7-20 overall and 4-6 in the CAA with the Friday win, while Campbell drops to 22-9 and 8-2 in league play.
 
Dahlia Palacio smacked a double into left field for the first hit of the game, and Anna Butler crushed a 1-1 pitch over the wall in right field for a two-run home run, giving the Pride an early 2-0 lead over the Fighting Camels. Campbell got two runners on base in the second inning, but Emma Falen picked up two of her eight strikeouts in this inning and forced a popout to end the scoring threat.
 
Hofstra's lead doubled for four with a two-run home run in the third inning from the bat of Mackenzie Fitzgerald. Butler slapped a single to start the inning off, and Fitzgerald blasted an 0-1 pitch over the left field wall to put Hofstra ahead 4-0. Falen and the Pride defense kept all Campbell baserunners off third base until the fifth inning, but Falen dealt with the threat by forcing a two-out popout to end the fifth.
 
Butler tallied two of Hofstra's six hits against the Fighting Camels, while Gemma D'Orazio, Fitzgerald, Palacio, and Chelsa Villar all scored hits for the Pride. Falen put in another masterful performance from the circle, allowing no runs and only three hits against eight strikeouts in 6.1 innings for her fifth win of the season, while Carley Ernst pitched to the final two batters in the seventh inning and tallied a swinging strikeout.
 
The series between the Pride and the Fighting Camels continues on Saturday, March 29, at 12 p.m.
 
NOTES:
-This was just the second-ever meeting between Hofstra and Campbell in softball, and the series is now tied at 1-1.
-The home runs were the second of the season and their careers for both Butler and Fitzgerald.
-Falen has gone 4-0 with a 1.99 ERA and 24 strikeouts in her last four appearances.
-D'Orazio and Alanna Morse both stole bases against Campbell.