Elon, NC – The Hofstra softball team dropped a hard-fought 8-7 road contest to Elon from Hunt Softball Park in Elon, North Carolina in early-season CAA action.
The Pride now sits at 1-15 overall and 0-2 in the conference, and Elon moves to 9-11 overall and 2-0 in CAA play.
After a scoreless first two innings down in North Carolina, Hofstra got on the board first with an RBI single from
Chelsea Villar, scoring
Carmella Gallagher and advancing
Gemma D'Orazio from second to third. D'Orazio made it 2-0 Hofstra after she took advantage of a throwing error by the Phoenix catcher. Elon responded with an RBI double in the bottom of the third inning, and the hosts evened the score at 2-2 with a solo home run in the fourth.
Hofstra plated a game-high four runs in the fifth inning to pull ahead by four. Villar drove home her second RBI of the contest on a double to left, and
Anna Butler continued her excellent series with a three-run home run to right center, scoring herself, Villar, and
Lily Yepez to make it 6-2 Hofstra. The Phoenix pulled ahead with a five-run sixth inning to put the Pride down 7-6 heading into the seventh inning. With Butler and Yepez on first and second, respectively, and two outs in the top of the seventh,
Mackenzie Fitzgerald came through with a clutch single up the middle to score Yepez and even the game at 7-7. Elon's Lani Wyrick reached base on a one-out single in the bottom of the seventh, and she advanced all the way to third with one out still on the board. With the count full, Peyton Fitzpatrick singled home Wyrick for the winning run.
Butler and Villar combined for four hits in eight at-bats and five RBIs in the game, while Fitzgerald also went 2-4 at the plate with an RBI, and Gallagher went 2-3. Emma Fallen struck out four Elon batters in five innings of work, while
Emma Brennan and
Carley Ernst also saw action against the Phoenix.
The series concludes on Sunday, March 9, at noon.
NOTES:
-Butler has driven in an RBI in four of her last six games.
-Villar has reached base safely in her last four games, and this was her third multi-RBI game this season.
-Fitzgerald has recorded an RBI in consecutive games for the first time in her career.
-Hofstra is now 15-9 all-time against Elon.
