Mackenzie Mathis dealt a three-hit shutout to lift the College of Charleston to a series-winning victory over the Hofstra University softball team in a 2-0 ballgame on Saturday, April 19, at Bill Edwards’ Stadium. This is the first series loss the Pride has suffered since March 16, against Towson University. With the series loss, the Pride fall to 11-10 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play. The loss puts the Pride three games out of fifth place as Charleston advances to 14-7 in conference play.
Mathis was electric in the circle, striking out eight Hofstra batters across seven innings pitched, allowing no walks and only one extra-base hit.
Despite only allowing two earned runs, Emma Falen was tagged with the loss. Falen allowed five hits and two walks while striking out three batters. The Pride committed one error which spiraled into an eventual run.
Kennedy Rhue drove in the only Charleston RBI on the day on a fielder’s choice. The other Cougars’ run was scored on a rundown in the third. Jay Wrightsman got caught in a pickle between first and second, allowing the run to cross before getting tagged out.
Mackenzie Fitzgerald delivered two of the Pride’s three knocks on the day. Chelsea Villar earned the third Hofstra hit, a double off the glove of Wrightsman in centerfield. The Pride were not able to string together any hits as Mathis was lights out.
Both Falen and Mathis got off to a hot start. Falen retired her first eight and Mathis retired her first five. Fitzgerald came through with a two-out knock in the second, but Mathis got the strikeout to end the inning.
Halle Cannon broke open the hitting for the Cougars in the third with a double. Wrightsman followed with a single and used tactical baserunning to help score the run, getting caught in a rundown. Originally, the call on the field was that Cannon did not cross the plate before Wrightman was out, but after a long discussion, the umpires overturned the ruling on the field, scoring the first run of the game.
The Cougars brought across their second run of the day on a string of hits. Austy Miller led off the fourth with a double to left field and advanced to third on an overthrow from Lily Yepez. Rhue reached on a fielder’s choice that allowed Miller to score.
Mathis continued to deal, only letting up two more hits on the day. Fitzgerald knocked her second single in the fifth, and Villar doubled in the sixth. Mathis finished her outing with a 1-2-3 seventh inning, striking out her final two batters. With only three baserunners on the day, the Pride struggled to get anything going, and Mathis completed the shutout.
The Pride look to bounce back in an out-of-conference match-up against St. John’s University on the road on Wednesday, April 23, before heading to Suffolk County to face off in a three-game set against Stony Brook University. The first pitch for Wednesday is set for 3 p.m.
