Fairfield, CT – The Hofstra softball team split a Wednesday afternoon doubleheader against Sacred Heart up in Connecticut, falling in the first game by a 4-1 score before hammering the Pioneers 8-1 in the second game. Hofstra is now 7-11 on the season, and Sacred Heart now stands at 5-12 following the 1-1 day on the diamond.
The Pioneers took advantage of an error with the bases loaded in the third inning to score two runs and take a 2-0 lead, and they added another two runs in the next frame on a two-run double. Hofstra threatened in the top of the fifth with
Gemma D'Orazio on second and
Ryleigh Smith on first with walks, and
Victoria Frobosilo brought home D'Orazio with a single to the outfield to make it a three-run difference before Hofstra was kept off the basepaths for the remaining two innings.
Sacred Heart once again jumped out to an early lead with an RBI single in the first inning, but Hofstra evened the score at 1-1 in the third when
Alanna Morse blasted a solo home run to dead center. The Pride broke the game wide open with a six-run fourth inning, putting the Pride ahead for good.
Gabby Sultan reached base on a single, and
Mackenzie Fitzgerald drew a walk to put two runners on with no outs, and
Chelsea Villar put the Pride ahead with a two-run single before stealing second. Frobosilo upped Hofstra's lead to three runs with a bases-clearing double, followed by a double from D'Orazio to score Frobosilo. Morse tallied her second RBI of the day with a single to make it 6-1, and
Nicole Cancel scored Morse with a single of her own to put Hofstra ahead 7-1.
With one out in the fifth inning, Villar drove a hard-hit ball into the corner in right field, and the speedy outfielder rounded all the bases and slid home safely before the throw for an inside-the-park home run, making it an 8-1 scoreline.
Villar and Morse both went 3-6 on the day with two RBIs and a home run, while Frobosilo drove in three RBIs on two hits, and D'Orazio also tallied two hits over both games.
Madison Steppe got the win in game with a strikeout in four innings, while
Kailyn Haig pitched two innings and recorded two strikeouts, and
Emma Brennan pitched the final frame with a pair of Ks against the Pioneers. In the first game,
Emma Falen recorded a strikeout in four innings of work, and Haig tallied two scoreless innings in relief.
Hofstra resumes CAA play with a three-game series in New Jersey against Monmouth, beginning on Friday at 2 p.m.
NOTES:
-These were the first meetings against Sacred Heart in program history.
-Villar's inside-the-park home run was the first by a Hofstra player since Chelsea Manto against Morgan State on February 19, 2023.
-Hofstra outhit Sacred Heard 15-11 over the doubleheader.
-D'Orazio stole two bases, while Morse and Villar swiped one base each.
