By Jeffrey Werner – STAFF WRITER
On Saturday, the Hofstra Pride softball team began their three-game series against the Fightin’ Blue Hens of the Unviersity of Delaware with a doubleheader at Bill Edwards Stadium.
The Pride dominated the Fightin’ Blue Hens by not only shutting them out for eleven innings, but they scored sixteen runs and mercy-ruled Delaware in both games.
Morgan Lashley got the start for the first game of the doubleheader. Like most of the season, Lashley dominated the Fightin’ Blue Hens’ batters. She struck out five batters and allowed one hit in five innings pitched. Lashley was able to earn her 17th win on the season.
Of course, pitching doesn’t get runs on the board, so Lashley needed her teammates to get some runs. The Pride batters got Lashley an early lead, thanks to a two-run home run by third basemen Kim Smith, her fifth on the season, that drove in Caryn Bailey and gave Hofstra a 2-0 lead.
The fifth inning was when the Pride offense exploded. Shortstop Michaela Transue got the rally started with a single that allowed Megan Patierno and pinch runner Rachel Simodejka – running for Erin Trippi – to score, and extended Hofstra’s lead to 4-0.
Lacey Clark thencame up to bat and lined the ball up the middle that drove in Transue and Chloe Fitzgerald.
Delaware’s pitcher started to tire and made mental errors, like walking Trippi with the bases loaded and threw a wild pitch that allowed Clark to score and seal the victory for the Pride 8-0.
The second game was the same story as the first, with the only difference being Taylor Pirone on the mound.
Pirone picked up where Lashley left off, shutting out the Fightin’ Blue Hens for six innings by striking out two batters and limiting their bats to three hits. Pirone picked up her 12th win of the season.
History repeated itself with the back-to-back games on Saturday, simply based on the Pride run production.
First baseman Brittany Allocca came up in the second inning with Patierno on base and smashed the ball over the left field fence for her fourth home run of the season. The Pride started ahead, 2-0, early on once again over Delaware.
Hofstra wasn’t done scoring runs in the second as Bailey hit the ball over the left fielder’s head for a double that scored Fitzgerald.
The fifth inning was yet another display of the Pride’s multi-run production in one inning.
Smith made some noise in the second game after she hit a ground ball to second base that drove in Fitzgerald. Clark came up to the plate and doubled down the third base line, driving in Bailey and extending the lead to 5-0. Trippi then lined the ball back up the middle for single, allowing Clark to score the sixth run for Hofstra.
With the bases loaded, Transue worked a walk to score Brielle Pietrafesa to end the fifth inning with a 7-0 Pride lead. The Pride were able to seal the deal when Clark drove the ball over the center fielder’s head and scored Bailey to claim another 8-0 victory for the Pride.