By Tim Robertson
Under pressure and with the game on the line in three separate situations, freshman Michele DePasquale didn’t succumb to the pressure. She flashed the leather and slammed the ball in clutch situations as she carried the Pride softball team to an extra-inning win over James Madison on Saturday, en route to a 2-1 weekend.
DePasquale knocked in the winning run with a 10th inning single hit hard up the middle to end the stalemate and give the Pride a 4-3 win over its CAA rival in Saturday’s second game. She also turned an unassisted double play in the ninth with one out and two on base. With two out in the seventh and two Dukes in scoring position, DePasquale made a leaping catch to end the inning, and preventing the Dukes from taking the lead.
“Our pitchers threw great games, so you have to be there for them on defense,” DePasquale said after the game. “You do what you can.”
Freshman Christie Novatin jump-started the Pride’s 10th inning with a hit that went through the legs of Dukes’ second baseman Brittney Lyddane, allowing Novatin to reach second base. Haney then re-entered the game as a pinch runner, moved to third on a wild pitch, and game home on DePasquale’s base knock.
“I was just thinking make some contact, see the ball,” DePasquale said of her last at-bat.
With a runner on third and no one out, coach Bill Edwards knew his team had to score.
“If you don’t score then, I might as well go into selling insurance,” Edwards joked. “[DePasquale] had a hall of fame day.”
The game-winning hit was the Pride’s seventh of the game, but only it’s second against JMU’s reliever Branden Moss, who pitched seven and two-thirds innings. A pair of second-inning runs knocked Dukes’ starter Meredith Felts out of the game, after she gave up three runs on five hits.
Carolann Lubach garnered the only other RBI for the Pride in the first, as a sacrifice hit allowed Casey Fee to score her first of two runs. Hofstra capitalized on two mistakes made by the Dukes in the second inning. A throwing error allowed pinch runner Kris Root to score from second on a ground ball to short, and a passed ball led to the Pride’s third run of the game.
Still in the second inning, the Pride would rally some more, but left the bases full, something it did three times in the game.
“We have to have the fire in our eyes to put [the opponent] away,” Edwards said. “We swing at pitches we shouldn’t be swinging at. We’re putting too much pressure on ourselves to drive in the run, instead of being selective.”
Bringing its three-run lead into the fifth, junior pitcher Courtney Oliver looked impressive, and Hofstra fielders gobbled up any hard-hit balls to the outfield. But in the fifth the Dukes capitalized on a Casey Fee error, a single, and a two-run homerun by Katie George.
“Courtney got a bad break because of the error. Again, wrong timing, wrong hitter coming up, wrong situation,” Edwards added he pondered walking the Dukes’ leadoff hitter.
Joanna Kralowetz replaced Oliver after she allowed the tying runs to score. The sophomore shut down JMU, immediately recording six straight outs. Kralowetz, in the win, scattered six hits in more than five innings of work.
The beginning of the first game between Hofstra and JMU mirrored the second, with the Pride jumping out to a quick lead. Melissa Hodge ripped a two-run hit to left field with two outs.
“Hodgey’s a hitter. She has been hitting very consistently, getting great at-bats,” the coach said. “She either gets a hit or works a five, six, eight pitch at-bat.”
Hofstra’s offense then fell quiet, as JMU ace Jenny Clohan gave up no it’s through the next three innings and didn’t allow a ball out of the infield. But in the fifth a Lubach single added another insurance run on a blooper over second base, enabling Kris Root to score.
The Pride wouldn’t need any more offense, as sophomore Kayleigh Lotti dominated the Dukes, striking out seven, allowing just three hits in a complete game shutout. Despite throwing upwards of 120 pitches and with JMU hitters fouling off several foul balls every at bat, Lotti maintained her cool.
“No one this year, except for Georgia Tech, has hit her hard,” Edwards said. “When she is on her game, she is very special.”
Whether or not déjà vu would occur on Sunday was the only thing left unanswered.
In the series’ final game, Lotti and Clohan dueled again, only this time Clohan got the better of the Pride’s ace. The sophomore led the Dukes to victory with a four-hitter, allowing just one run in seven innings and walking one.
Lotti, a day after posting her sixth win, gave up a two-run homerun to Jenn Chavez, and then Clohan benefited herself with a solo shot of her own. The Pride couldn’t recover from the 3-0 deficit.
Junior shortstop Pam Dreslinski ripped a single in the sixth, scoring Fee, the only run the Pride posted against the Dukes.
The Pride suffered just its sixth loss in as many years at home against a CAA opponent.
Hofstra hosts George Mason (10-13, 0-3) tomorrow for a three-game set.