The Hofstra University softball team’s season ended with a heartbreaking 7-5 loss in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Championship tournament to the CAA regular season champions, the University of Delaware, on Friday, May 9.
Chloe Blantz and Mary Beth Calahan each had explosive days at the plate. Blantz went 4-4 with four singles. Calahan was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle, with a huge three-run home run in the first inning to give the Fightin’ Blue Hens an early lead.
Delaware starter Morgan Hess lasted 6.1 innings in the circle and shut the Pride out for three consecutive innings. Hess allowed four earned runs on six hits and tallied a strikeout. The Fightin’ Blue Hen’s defense did not help Hess in the circle, making two errors, each resulting in Hofstra runs.
Carley Ernst struggled to settle in with the strongest offensive team at the plate. She allowed three earned runs on four hits and two walks while Emma Falen was brought out of the bullpen in the third inning and got the Pride out of a bases-loaded situation. Falen allowed four earned runs in four innings with two strikeouts.
Hofstra took the early lead in the first inning, putting up a two-spot. Chelsea Villar took advantage of a throwing error by Blantz and Alanna Morse reached on a fielder’s choice to replace Villar at first. Anna Butler roped a single down the first base line and Dahlia Palacio continued to step up in the postseason for the Pride, driving in Morse on an RBI fielder’s choice. Tyler Douglas worked a long at-bat to draw the walk and load the bases. Mackenzie Fitzgerald followed with a hit by pitch to bring in the run. Gemma D’Orazio stranded two baserunners, grounding into a double play to finish the inning.
Delaware answered in the bottom of the inning with a big swing. Blantz singled through the left side and Sydney Shaffer worked a walk. On the first pitch of the at-bat, cleanup hitter Calahan gave the Fightin’ Blue Hens the lead on a three-run blast to left field.
After a rocky first inning on both sides, Hess and Ernst settled in the circle in the second, allowing a clean second inning. Hess allowed a single in the third frame to Palacio but got out of the inning unscathed. The top of the Fightin’ Blue Hens rallied, forcing Ernst out of the circle mid-inning following a single from Blantz and a walk to Shaffer. Calahan took advantage of Hofstra’s defensive alignment, loading the bases on a bunt single. Falen got out of the no-out bases-loaded jam, forcing three consecutive infield pop-outs.
The Fightin’ Blue Hens took a two-run lead in the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back doubles from the red-hot Blantz and Katie Scheivert.
The Pride limited the deficit to just one run in the fifth inning. Lily Yepez smacked her third triple of the season into the left center field gap. Villar brought in the run, exploiting Blantz at short and forcing an error. With no outs, Hess managed to get out of the inning, minimizing the damage to just one, forcing a double play.
Delaware continued to pour on the offense at the bottom of the inning, taking a three-run lead. Back-to-back doubles drove in an early run. Calahan knocked her third hit of the day, a double to right center field and the two-way tool Hess RBI doubled into left center field. Ryleigh Thomas advanced Hess to third on a sacrifice bunt that set up Sorella Gallucci for an RBI groundout.
The Fightin’ Blue Hens opened the game in the bottom of the sixth on a string of hits. Veronica Diomede, Scheivert and Blantz hit three consecutive singles to load the bases, setting the stage for Shaffer’s sacrifice fly to add a run in the sixth.
The Pride put together a late rally, forcing Delaware to reach into their bullpen and bring in CAA Pitcher of the Year, Billie Kerwood, to retire the Pride. Senior Kellie Sandas was brought off the bench to pinch hit and drew a walk. Villar followed with a double into right field. Morse kept the rally going with an RBI single into left field. The Fightin’ Blue Hens turned to Kerwood to get them out of trouble, but the Pride continued to battle. Butler singled on Kerwood’s first pitch of the day, driving in the fifth Hofstra run of the day. Despite the late rally, Kerwood retired the last two batters, earning the save, and kept the Fightin’Blue Hens alive in the tournament.
The loss ends the season for the Pride, but Hofstra put up a great postseason run as the six seed. After starting the beginning of the season 2-21, the Pride made a turnaround and finished the season with 22-28 overall.
