Preview: Hofstra softball looking for second consecutive CAA Championships
The Hofstra University softball team is going back to the Coastal Athletic Association tournament for the second consecutive year. The Pride finished their 2024 campaign with an overall record of 21-24 and CAA record of 17-10. This time, the reigning champions have a bit more work ahead of them. Unlike last year, they’re not the third seed and they’re not playing in their home field. Playoffs this year are at UNC-Wilmington, and Hofstra enters as the sixth seed.
In doing so, they were rewarded with a first-round matchup against the third-seeded Stony Brook University Seawolves.
Hofstra’s done a few things well all year, as shown in their 17-10 overall record, but like any team, they’re not perfect.
Julia Apsel
The indisputable ace of the Pride, Julia Apsel has been nothing short of amazing. She leads the CAA in ERA at 1.48 heading into the postseason. Apsel is also top-three in innings pitched with 175.0, wins with 17 and strikeouts with 152. The southpaw has her eyes set on CAA Pitcher of the Year.
Other than Apsel, Hofstra struggles in both the rotation and the bullpen. Outside of Apsel, the next lowest ERA is over 4.50 and the next closest WHIP is just over 1.83, while Apsel’s is 1.06. If the Pride has just one arm step up and shine under the bright lights of the CAA championship, then this team has a chance to make a deep run.
If Hofstra goes undefeated, that’ll be four games in four days. If they lose game one, they’ll have to play another game that day, putting their backs against the wall early. If they make it out of the loser’s bracket and get to the championship, they’ll have to play at least six games and possibly even a seventh in four days. That’s a lot of pitching for Apsel’s arm. It’s crucial that they add reliable relief pitching.
Becca Vaillancourt
After Meghan Giordano graduated as the Most Outstanding Player last season, one of the biggest questions posed was how her offensive power was going to be replaced. She slashed .341/.450/.695 last season, launched 15 balls over the fence and knocked in 48 runs. With an OPS of 1.145, she was roughly 400 points higher than the next player.
The person who stepped up was Becca Vaillancourt, with a career-high season in just about every category. Going into playoffs, Vaillancourt slashed .369/.417/.638, hit nine home runs and knocked in 30 runs. She also had an OPS of 1.055. She filled Giordano’s spot, but the rest of the lineup didn’t make up for last year’s production as a whole.
The rest of the lineup
The top-three hitters in the lineup have predominantly been Vaillancourt, Olivia Malinowski and Aliya Catanzarita. Manlinowski and Catanzarita have had an up-and-down season, but their numbers are pretty much identical.
Malinowski: .269/.340/.373, two home runs, 21 RBI, .713 OPS, 18 strikeouts, 14 walks.
Catanzarita: .262/.371/.421, three home runs, 19 RBI, .792 OPS, 22 strikeouts, 23 walks.
Hofstra has gotten some help at the bottom of the lineup in nine-hole hitter and center fielder Chelsea Manto. She’s batting .310 and has the speed to flip the order with 18 stolen bases.
Kayla Wilson also leads the team in walks with 27. She’s become the new leadoff batter for the Pride since April 28, the team’s last game of their series against the Hampton University Pirates.
Diamond in the rough
Playoff time is the perfect time for a player to step up under pressure. Angelina Ioppolo hit a two-RBI single over the outstretched glove of Towson shortstop Mackenzie Lake to beat Towson 5-4 in the CAA championship game last year. Earlier in the championship, Madison McKevitt hit a grand slam against UNCW to move onto the next round.
Some potential candidates for this category are sophomore shortstop Alanna Morse, freshman third baseman Mackenzie Fitzgerald and freshman second baseman Nicole Cancel.
Morse put together a stellar freshman campaign in 2023, but she never really seemed to get it going in 2024. She’s batting just under .200 and has gotten on base only 25% of the time, but she’s had some clutch at-bats throughout the season.
Fitzgerald has struggled at the plate all season, but her glove is her calling card. She’s saved games against just about every CAA opponent this season at the hot corner. She’s started to look more comfortable at the plate as of late, going five-for-17 since April 24 against Fordham University. She also held a three-game hit streak from April 28 to May 2.
Cancel is another batter that’s struggled all season. When Gianna Iaquinto started the season with an injury, Hofstra leaned on Cancel at second base. When Iaquinto came back in early March, Cancel came off the bench as a defensive replacement. Iaquinto got injured again in the team’s three-game series against the University of Delaware, and Cancel’s number was called on again.
While all of her at-bats didn’t result in hits in the beginning of the season, she started seeing the ball better and put together strong, quality at-bats. She finished out the final series of the year going two-for-six at the plate – a .333 batting average.
The Pride has their work cut out for them with a date on Wednesday, May 8, against the 19-8 Stony Brook University Seawolves. If Hofstra beats the Seawolves, they will move on to the next round to take on the Delaware Blue Hens on Thursday, May 9, at 2:30 p.m. If the Pride loses, they’ll play for their lives at 5 p.m. against the loser of the UNCW-Elon game. First pitch Wednesday against Long Island rivals is at 2:30 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Antonio Giammarino Jr.
