Hofstra softball falls in double header to Monmouth

The Hofstra University softball team lost both games of their doubleheader against the Monmouth University Hawks. Game one was decided by a single run in the seventh inning, as Hofstra fell 1-0, while game two resulted in a 7-3 loss. The Pride dropped to 4-4 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play and 6-16 overall.

Hofstra’s ace Julia Apsel got the ball in game one. Even though the team lost off an RBI double by Mackenzie Bloss in the seventh inning, Apsel surrendered only one run on five hits and two walks, while fanning six batters over 6.2 innings of work.

In game one, the Pride lacked scoring opportunities. Hofstra only got on base five times, struck out nine times and only had two runners in scoring position across the entire game. The timely hitting improved in game two, but only for the first three innings.

Hofstra’s offense got off to a loud start in game two, as Becca Vaillancourt blasted her fourth home run of the year to left field to give the team a 1-0 in the first frame.

The Pride kept the bats going, as they put together a two-run third inning. With two outs in the inning, Vaillancourt connected for her second extra-base hit of the game with a double to right center. Olivia Malinowksi got in on the double parade with a hit of her own to left center, scoring Vaillancourt.

The third consecutive hit of the inning resulted in an RBI single off the bat of Aliya Catanzarita, as Malinowski came around to score and cap off the two-run inning, bringing the Pride to a 3-0 lead.

In response, the Hawks tallied a five-run third inning. After a slapping single in the five-six hole, Savannah Simons tripled down the left-field line to cut the three-run deficit to two.

Bloss knocked Hofstra’s starting pitcher, Marisa Ogden, out of the game with an RBI single to third base, scoring Simons. With runners on first and second and no outs, Kiley O’Rourke singled down the right field line to tie the game and set up runners on the corners.

Following a stolen base by O’Rourke, Tessa Thompson capped off the five-run inning with a two-RBI single to center field, giving Monmouth a 5-3 lead.

The last game of this series of three against the Hawks was on Sunday, March 24, at noon.

 Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Matteo Bracco