By Rob Pelaez - STAFF WRITER Game One
The Hofstra Pride women’s softball team entered Sunday at 9-8 overall and started on the right foot against St. John’s University (finishing the Red Storm sweep, winning 8-0 in six innings) at Bill Edwards Stadium in game one of a doubleheader in the Hofstra Invitational.
In the morning showdown with St. John’s, junior Jessica Peslak pitched all six innings Hofstra needed to win and picked up her seventh win of the year in the process.
Peslak threw a solid outing, only giving up three hits, two walks and striking out one. The Pride’s offense erupted in the second inning when Kim Smith, Brielle Pietrafesa and Nikki Michalowski all sent three two-run home runs over the fence, making it a 6-0 game. Hofstra’s eight runs were scored on just nine hits and Coach Larissa Anderson certainly took notice of her team’s turnaround day.
She also showed praise to the new second baseman, Megan Patierno, on her defense.
“It was great,” Anderson said. “It’s been great to see because she hasn’t gotten a lot of playing time yet this year. She’s probably one of the most valuable players on the team because she can be so versatile playing multiple positions on the field.”
The sophomore from Montville, N.J., also had a solid day at the plate, going 1-3 with a RBI single in the third. However, it wasn’t just a great game from Patierno as Michalowski also had a solid outing defensively as well as at the plate. Michalowski’s bomb to left in the second inning was her second home run of the year and brought her batting average up to a respectable .304. The Red Storm offense was dwarfed by the Pride’s solid pitching thanks to Peslak, going a combined 3-20 on the day, a mere .150 average. Smith also had a nice outing, bringing her season average up to a stellar .328. Sophomore Brittany Allocca continued her hot streak, increasing her average to .340 on the season, a vast improvement over the .224 she hit all 56 games she played last year.
Game Two
After the Pride pushed the Red Storm away, they were set on the bigger daily task Sunday afternoon, which was beating University of Connecticut. Hofstra lost its previous matchup to UConn on Saturday by six runs but the Pride showed its resilience and came from behind on multiple occasions during the game, ultimately winning 10-8 at home.
Instead of going with freshman Madison Grimm to start the UConn like in Saturday’s matchup, Coach Anderson went with Peslak to start this outing as well in the same day.
Yet, she didn’t make it through the whole seven innings. Peslak threw a little over three innings due to her 140 cumulative pitch count for the whole day, giving up four runs on five hits.
Grimm, despite giving up four runs in just over two innings of work, got her fourth win of the year. Courtney Scarpato picked up her third save on the year, shutting down the Huskies in the bottom frame of the seventh.
The game stayed scoreless until the fourth, when Hofstra shortstop Michaela Transue hit a two-run bomb to right center, giving the Pride a 2-0 lead. After an onslaught of runs in the bottom of the fourth by UConn that made it a 5-2 Husky lead, senior outfielder Caryn Bailey tied it up again in the fifth with a three-run double to the centerfield fence. After more back and forth play from the two teams, Hofstra broke the game up again in the top of the seventh, scoring four runs. Michalowski contributed in large part to the rally with a three-run double of her own.
On the day in whole, Michalowski dominated both teams, going a combined 3-6 with five RBIs and one home run.
When asked about how Hofstra would rebound after dealing with the dominant Husky pitching staff yesterday, Coach Anderson said, “They started off by getting into the batter’s box and trying to be as late as they possibly could. It’s much easier to make adjustments when you’re later, when you can use the entire field to your advantage.” While the Huskies batted a .360 in the game, the Hofstra offense learned from the Huskies’ effective pitching on Saturday. The Pride stayed calm, cool and collected in the box, hitting .454 on the day (15-33).
The strategy paid off in the Pride’s favor today as they got back to three games over .500 season, the last time was back on Feb. 19 to go 5-2.
The wins pushed Hofstra to double-digit wins on the year and moved them into fifth place in the conference. Next game for Hofstra is Wednesday, March 16, in the Big Apple taking on the Rams of Fordham University at 3 p.m.