Hempstead, NY – The Hofstra softball team made history on Friday by winning its 20th conference game of the season with a 3-1 victory over Monmouth in the penultimate game of the 2026 regular season. Hofstra moves to 28-21 overall and 20-3 in the CAA on the year, and Monmouth drops to 20-30 overall and 10-13 in league play.
Hofstra's 20 CAA wins tops the program's previous mark for CAA wins in a season of 19 set in 2012, and Friday's win over the Hawks gives Hofstra 20 conference wins for the first time since 2001 when the Pride was a member of the America East.
After
Alanna Morse drew a lead-off walk to open the game,
Dahlia Palacio quickly put the Pride on the board with a double off the wall in right field to score Morse all the way from first base. After Palacio advanced to third on a groundout by
Gabby Sultan,
Ryleigh Smith lined a 1-2 pitch over the pitcher and into center field, scoring Palacio and upping the lead to two runs. Monmouth responded in the top of the second with a two-out RBI single, halving Hofstra's lead, but
Madison Steppe retired five consecutive batters before a fourth inning walk, and she allowed only another Monmouth batter on base for the remainder of the game.
With Hofstra's lead still at 2-1 entering the sixth inning,
Gemma D'Orazio connected on the first pitch she saw for a solo home run clear over the left field wall for an insurance run. Steppe and the Hofstra defense kept Monmouth from coming any closer to a comeback in the final two innings of the contest.
Steppe picked up her 12th win of the season with four strikeouts and four total Monmouth baserunners in 94 pitches. Morse and D'Orazio both finished the game with two hits against the Hawks.
The series and regular season wraps up on Saturday at 12 p.m. Prior to first pitch, the Hofstra softball team will honor graduating seniors
Emma Brennan,
Emma Falen,
Alanna Morse, and
Lily Yepez.
NOTES:
-Hofstra improves to 12-4 all-time against Monmouth and 10-4 since the Hawks' first season in the CAA in 2023.
-D'Orazio's home run was her fifth of the season.
-Palacio tied her single-season high of 18 doubles set in 2025, and she is now tied for the fourth-most in a season in Hofstra softball history.
-Today was Morse's 16th multi-hit game of the season and the 43rd of her career.
