By Jeffrey Werner – Staff Writer After coming off a tough opening day which the Hofstra Pride lost both games to the Central Arkansas Bears and Louisiana State University, the Pride looked for redemption in their second doubleheader against the two teams. Hofstra managed to bounce back with an 8-0 victory over the Central Arkansas Bears but the score flipped with an 8-0 loss against the LSU Tigers.
GAME ONE
In their previous matchup, Central Arkansas scored a late run in the sixth inning to claim the victory and Hofstra pitcher Morgan Lashley dropped to 0-1 on the season. She returned to the mound for round two against the Bears and Lashley took her game to another level.
Lashley pulled off a no-hitter against Central Arkansas in six innings of work – she had the potential for a perfect game but two walks blocked the opportunity. In addition, Lashley struck out seven batters as a bonus in her bounce-back performance.
Hofstra’s offense provided plenty of support, which started in the bottom of the second inning. With a runner on first, freshmen outfielder Brielle Pietrafesa launched one over the fence for her first home run of the season to get the Pride off to a 2-0 lead.
The third inning hosted one unearned run granted in Hofstra’s favor for a three-run lead. Caryn Bailey advanced from first to third due a fielder’s choice converted into a fielding error to put herself in scoring position. Lacey Clark earned the RBI groundout to knock Bailey in for the extra run.
The Pride piled on the runs in the fourth, starting with an infield hit by freshmen infielder Brittany Allocca in which she advanced to second off an error. Pride player Rachel Simodejka replaced Allocca as the pinch runner on second.
Simodejka reached third off a groundout by Michaela Trnasue and touched home off a RBI single by Danielle Bitts that made the score 4-0.
Brielle Pietrafesa got a turn on the bases with a walk and pushed Bitts to second. Afterwards, Alyssa Cuzzola took Bitts’ spot on the bases as another pinch runner. Chloe Fitzgerald played the sacrifice bunt to move Cuzzola to third and Pietrafesa to second. Outfielder Caryn Bailey came up clutch with a two-run single in center field, Pietrafesa and Cuzzola crossed home plate and extended Hofstra’s lead to 6-0.
The fifth and sixth innings hosted two more runs for Hofstra to push their lead forward – one in each inning. Sophomore shortstop Michaela Transue was granted with an RBI groundout to bring home Clark.
With the bases-loaded and two outs in the sixth, Hofstra stretched their lead one more time with a fielding error by Central Arkansas. The Bears got out of the inning afterwards but the Pride tacked on the extra run to compile the eight-run deficit.
Lashley remained lights out for the overwhelming support and the Bears’ defense played into the Pride’s favor as well with five errors in the game – four runs accounted for resulted from the mistakes around the diamond with Central Arkansas.
The Pride won their first game of the 2015 softball campaign as well as first-year head coach Larissa Anderson got her first team win with Anderson in charge.
GAME TWO
Hofstra had a small break before they took on the hometown LSU Tigers in the second matchup of the doubleheader.
The game started out offensively quiet for both teams and things looked promising in the first two and a half innings. Senior pitcher Taylor Pirone held the Tigers off the board momentarily but she self-destructed later on in the bottom of the third.
The game got away from the Pride while the Tigers rattled Pirone around and scored five runs in the third. Bailey Landry sparked the run with an RBI single at the mercy of the pitcher’s error that allowed the first run to cross the plate. Bianka Bell made a statement and ringed in a two-run double that extend the LSU lead to 3-0.
Then back-to-back RBI singles from Simmons and Kloss respectively drove in the last two runs to grant the Tigers the 5-0 lead.
The Tigers’ sophomore pitcher Kelsee Selman churned out a one-hitter and fanned the Pride eight times in five innings of work. Her performance ruined any chance for Hofstra to comeback in the game. Pride player Caryn Bailey pulled out the only hit in 16 plate appearances – Michaela Transue managed to put up the only walk in the game for the Pride.
The fifth inning hosted another multiple-run rally for the Tigers – it started with a solo shot from Bell in centerfield to put the Pride down by six runs. Then after a single by Falcon, Simmons and McCasland scored off a throwing error by the centerfielder Caryn Bailey.
Pride starter Pirone dropped to a 0-2 start after she gave up 7-of-the-11 total hits to the Tigers and she also surrendered five runs, -- four runs that were earned – zero walks and struck-out one. After Pirone pitched three innings in total, reliever Jessica Peslak replaced her going into the bottom of the fourth.
The Pride finished showed some positives on day two of the LSU invitational but still struggled with the two-game sweep against Louisiana State University to start the season under .500 at 1-3 after at the end of second doubleheader.