By Mike Rudin and Marco Meglio - SPORTS EDITOR AND STAFF WRITER
The Hofstra Pride concluded the Louisiana-Lafayette Invitational with a 3-2 record. Hofstra split both doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday in similar fashion, winning game one but losing game two.
The Pride showed their strength against the University of Iowa with a two-game sweep, winning 4-3 on Friday and 9-3 on Saturday. Hofstra did struggle against No. 6 University of Louisiana-Lafayette as they swept the Pride in back-to-back shutouts, losing 0-3 in game one and 0-9 in game two.
The Hofstra Pride capped the series off with a 3-2 win over McNeese State University to keep Hofstra with a .500 record at 5-5.
GAME ONE
The Pride opened up the invitational with game one of Friday’s doubleheader against University of Iowa.
After a quiet first inning, the Iowa Hawkeyes managed a sacrifice fly in the top of the second to take a 1-0 lead.
Hofstra starter Morgan Lashley gave an up-and-down pitching performance in the first game as she went 5.1 innings and gave up seven hits, three runs – two of them earned – two walks, but struck-out four.
Lashley had a healthy dose of run support to put Hofstra in front with back-to-back innings, scoring two runs each to ultimately compile all four runs for the Pride.
Hofstra tied the game in the bottom of the fourth with a sacrifice fly by Danielle Bitts for the first Pride run. Chloe Fitzgerald smacked an RBI single to the third base side that drove in Erin Trippi, tying the game at 2-2.
University of Iowa scored one more run off a hit-by-pitch by Lashley with the bases loaded. Lashley finished her outing in the sixth inning until Taylor Pirone took the mound.
Pirone supplied the late-game support that kept the Hawkeyes off the scoreboard in the sixth and seventh inning.
Hofstra retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth with a two-run bomb from Allocca that ultimately decided the game.
Both Pride pitchers boosted their numbers with Pirone’s first save of the season and Lashley improved to 2-1 after the win.
GAME TWO
The Ragin’ Cajuns entered with a 10-0 record for part two of the doubleheader against the Pride on Friday. The team’s pitching was also elite, as all four starters had an ERA under one.
Ragin’ Cajuns’ starter Jordan Wallace went the distance with seven innings, surrendering only one hit by Hofstra designated player Brittney Allocca.
Pride starter Taylor Pirone gave up three runs, two earned, and five hits. In the fourth inning, catcher Lexi Elkins broke the score open with a solo homerun to deep center. Scary to think that hitting .293, does not make a player one of the top hitters.
The Ragin’ Cajuns are stacked with hitters. There are seven players in their starting rotation that are currently hitting above .300. For Hofstra, it’s been a struggle to find runs, as only leadoff hitter Chloe Fitzgerald is hitting over .300.
Louisiana-Lafayette distanced itself from Hofstra in the sixth inning when an RBI double by Kelsey Vincent gave the Ragin’ Cajuns a 2-0 lead. During the same inning, a double steal worked to perfection, as Aleah Craighton stole second while Leandra Maly stole home. Wallace continued to cruise and finished the game all the way through.
GAME THREE
Saturday’s doubleheader started with round two between the Pride and the University of Iowa. Hofstra started out cold offensively while the Hawkeyes pushed out in front 3-0 by the end of the third inning. It seemed they were looking for redemption after Friday’s matchup.
Iowa led the scoreboard until Hofstra was one out away from losing and the Pride pulled an eight-run rally to run away with the game.
Pride starting pitcher, Morgan Lashley, struggled to eat up innings against the Buckeyes and she was pulled in the third. She pitched two innings, giving up four hits and two earned runs but struck-out two players and didn’t surrender a single walk.
Reliever, Taylor Pirone, picked up where she left off after Lashley gave up a base hit in the bottom of the third. Pirone struggled to keep Iowa off the board in her first inning as she let up an extra single to Claire Fritsch until a two-run double down the line.
Erin Trippi cut Iowa’s lead 3-1 in the fourth with an RBI double to bring in Lacey Clark. The Pride continued to endure an up-hill battle through the next 2.2 innings without another run as the Hawkeyes were on the verge of winning the game with one out to go in the seventh inning.
With the Pride down by two runs and one runner on first, things looked bleak for any type of comeback.
Then things slowly started to turn around with a single by Chloe Fitzgerald which sparked five straight hits. Caryn Bailey and Lacey Clark came up clutch with consecutive RBI base hits that tied the game at 3-3. Brittany Allocca strung together the game-winning RBI hit that drove in Bailey.
Erin Trippi provided insurance with an RBI single, driving in Clark. After Kim Smith walked to first and filled the bases, freshman Michaela Transue buried the Hawkeyes with a grand slam – her first career grand slam in a Pride uniform.
Taylor Pirone shutdown Iowa in the bottom of the seventh to secure the win for Hofstra. She struck-out four and did not walk a single batter during her five innings on the mound.
GAME FOUR
The second game of Saturday’s doubleheader primarily hosted the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns scoring three-run rallies in three separate innings against the Pride for the 9-0 shutout.
The six-inning game highlighted Louisiana-Lafayette starter Christina Hamilton. She received the win with a two-hit performance in five innings of work plus three walks and three strikeouts.
Pirone suffered her fourth loss with eight runs in total – seven of which were earned – in five innings on the mound. Reliever, Jessica Pelslak, finished the last inning of work, giving up one unearned run but striking out one.
Fitzgerald and Transue were the only Pride players with a hit in the game and Brittany Allocca led the Pride with two walks, making up half the walks by the team.
Shellie Landry drove in four runs for the Ragin’ Cajuns with a three-run bomb in the third inning to start the scoring and a RBI single in the fifth to right field that extended Louisiana-Lafayette 4-0. Lexie Elkins fired a two-run homer afterwards in the fifth to continue to onslaught.
The sixth hosted three more runs – two of which were unearned off the same throwing error by the Pride – to pile a loss upon the Pride.
GAME FIVE
With a 2-2 status record in the invitational, the Hofstra Pride came out of their last game against the McNeese State University Cowgirls with a winning record in the series and grab a .500 record.
The Cowgirls were the first to put numbers on the scoreboard with back-to-back runs in the top of the second and third innings. Two sacrifice fly-balls pushed the 2-0 lead for McNeese state heading into the bottom of the third.
Hofstra quickly changed the momentum of the game with a two-run rally that tied the game. With the bases loaded and no outs, Brittany Allocca provided a two-run base hit, driving Fitzgerald and Cuzzola home.
The Pride wasn’t able to take further advantage of scoring because of a strikeout and a failed stolen base with runners on first and second and a fielder’s choice.
Afterwards, both pitchers – Hofstra’s Taylor Pirone and McNeese’s Emily Vincent – pitched three scoreless innings. Pirone managed one more scoreless frame, but Vincent couldn’t match as the Pride scored the game-winning run in the final inning.
Kim Smith got the ball rolling with a leadoff single through the left side of the field. After a sacrifice bunt by Bitts, pinch-hitter Brielle Pietrafesa came up with Smith on second and no outs. Pietrafesa then fired a base hit that drove in Smith to win the game.
The Pride will continue their 16-game road trip with game 11 against Oklahoma State this Saturday at 3:00 p.m.