By Mike Rudin – SPORTS EDITOR
The Hofstra softball squad squared up against Dartmouth University and screeched by with a 1-0 win, thanks to superb pitching by senior Morgan Lashley with the complete-game shutout.
“It’s been a tough two weeks being stuck inside where we need to get out,” said head coach Larissa Anderson. “I was very impressed how we didn’t give into the cold. It’s very tough for players, on both sides, to play in those conditions, as cold as it was.”
The win brings the team’s record to 8-7-1, Morgan Lashley receives the win and her record goes up to 5-1 to start the season. She’s pitched her third complete game as well as her third shutout in her first ten starts of the 2015 season.
Larissa Anderson commented on Lashley’s performance in the game while she endured the cold, harsh weather.
“It was great to see that when she went into the seventh inning and was able to shut the door,” said Anderson. “You have to teach your players how to play in these conditions. They have to be able to keep their fingers warm, continually blowing on their hand every single inning because the pitcher has to spin the ball.”
Lashley allowed six hits in all seven innings of work against the Dartmouth Big Green. She walked one batter but struckout seven hitters in her stellar outing.
The Big Green threatened to score on three separate occasions with a triple in the third, a double in the fourth, and back-to-back singles in the top of the sixth to put runners in scoring position. But Lashley worked out of each one with either a groundout or flyouts to end the innings unharmed.
Lashley has been the bedrock for the Pride currently with a 1.61 earned run average and leads the team with 51 strikeouts – more than half of the rest of the team’s strikeout totals, Hofstra currently has 80. The batters average against her now stands at .229 after the Dartmouth game, a team’s best.
Senior catcher Erin Trippi provided the only run support needed for her pitcher in the bottom of the fourth inning.
With the bases loaded, Trippi fired a single down the left field side that drove in pinch-runner Rachel Simodejka. Chloe Fitzgerald and Kim Smith setup the bases loaded situation with singles scattered throughout the inning and a walk to Clark brought Trippi into the batter’s box with the bases juiced.
Fitzgerald and Smith contributed with multiple-hit performances, each with two hits in the game. The Pride collected five hits overall against Dartmouth but efficiently used their hits to convert a run.
Dartmouth starter Kristen Rumley finished with a complete game in six innings of work while giving up one run, one walk and striking out six Pride batters. The Big Green pulled out only two extra-base hits in 26 at-bats.
The Hofstra Pride will travel down to Wilmington, North Carolina to take on the UNC-W Seahawks for their first conference matchup. The first of a three-game series begins with a doubleheader on March 21, game one starts at 12:00 p.m.
