By Jeffrey Werner — STAFF WRITER
The road to defending the CAA championship got off to a rocky start for the Hofstra Pride softball team, as it dropped the first two games of the season in the FAU Kick-off Classic against Tulsa University and Florida Atlantic University.
Head coach Larissa Anderson let freshmen pitcher Madison Grimm make her starting debut in the circle against the Golden Hurricanes. Grimm kept Tulsa off the scoreboard for the first two innings, despite having runners in scoring position.
In the third inning, however, the Golden Hurricanes broke through with a double that drove in two runners. Tulsa continued to give Grimm a hard time as Jocelyn Sheffield smashed the ball over the left field fence to extend the Golden Hurricane’s lead to three runs.
Hofstra wasn’t about to let the game get away, however. In the bottom of the fourth, Caryn Bailey singled up the middle and Kim Smith reached on error which allowed Brielle Pietrafesa to double to left field to drive in Bailey and Smith, cutting the lead to one run.
In the sixth inning, Tulsa got runners on first and second when Anderson decided to pull Grimm and put in freshmen Courtney Scarpato in hopes of keeping those runners on base.
Her hopes were for nothing as the next batter bunted to get the bases loaded and then Morgan Neal singled to drive in two runs. Hofstra would never get any closer, dropping the first game by a score of 6-3.
The Pride got some time to rest before the team took the field for its second game of the day. For this game, Coach Anderson let junior Jessica Peslak start in the circle against the Owls of Florida Atlantic.
The Owls were quick to get on the board in the first inning as an early single drove in the first run. In the third, a fielder’s choice extended the Owls’ lead to two runs. Then Carnesha Thompson drove the ball over the left field wall to further the lead to 3-0.
Smith erased the zero for Hofstra with a double that drove in Chloe Fitzgerald, but a three-run sixth inning by FAU, which include a solo homer and bases-loaded walk, officially sealed the victory for the Owls.
