By Mark Mausner -- STAFF WRITER
The Hofstra softball team forfeited a five-run lead in the fifth and sixth innings, losing to the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens, 10-6, on Sunday afternoon.
Delaware knocked in four runs in the fifth inning and scored six in the following frame, taking the rubber match of the CAA series.
Senior third baseman Kim Smith led the Pride at the plate despite the series loss, batting 2-for-4 and collecting three RBI on the day.
Senior outfielder Chloe Fitzgerald also collected a multi-hit game, batting 2-for-5 with two RBIs. The Pride scored three runs in the first inning, taking advantage of two errors by the Blue Hens. Fitzgerald, the Pride’s leadoff hitter, made it to first on a throwing error on the first at-bat of the game.
Two consecutive walks by Blue Hens starter Carolyn Szymanski loaded the bases and Smith’s one-out double brought Fitzgerald and Michaela Transue home.
Sophomore catcher Brittany Allocca then scored from first on a throwing error on the relay throw from the outfield.
Hofstra’s three runs in the first inning came on just one hit.
The Pride extended its lead to 5-0 an inning later when Transue and Allocca were hit by pitches on consecutive at-bats.
The Blue Hens pulled Szymanski from the game, as she allowed five runs on one hit in less than two innings.
Delaware made it a one-run ballgame in the fifth when Mariah Kondravy’s single up the middle plated Leanna Gearhart. Anna Steinmetz followed that up with a three-run home run to left-center to make the score 5-4.
After Smith gave the Pride an insurance run in the sixth, the Blue Hens loaded the bases off freshman reliever Madison Grimm and had an opportunity to turn the game around against Hofstra’s Courtney Scarpato.
An illegal pitch by the right-hander brought home a run.
A fielding error then scored two Delaware runs to give them a 7-6 lead. Kondravy hit another single up the middle for a RBI and Lisa Stacevicz’s double drove in two more to seal the Blue Hens victory. In the circle, Jessica Peslak got the nod and pitched through the first 4.2 innings. She surrendered four earned runs, five hits and three walks with no strikeouts.
Grimm took over and took the loss, giving up three earned runs with two outs to show, as her record dropped to 5-6.
Scarpato finished the game to close out the sixth, getting the final two outs.
She gave up three unearned runs on three hits with one strikeout in her outing.
The Pride is now 21-17 overall and 5-6 in CAA play. Hofstra sits in fifth place in the conference standings.
On the other hand, Delaware moved to 26-14 overall, with a record of 8-4 in the conference.