Hofstra softball dropped both games of a doubleheader against the College of Charleston Cougars Saturday afternoon in South Carolina, falling 2-1 and 5-1. The losses dropped the Pride to 23-19 on the season and 9-6 in CAA play.
“We were not a very good team today to put it pretty bluntly,” said Hofstra head coach Larissa Anderson.
“There’s really not much that we did well. We didn’t pitch well. We were tentative all the way around. Our pitchers were very tentative…Offensively, we were early and reaching for balls that are very untraditional of us to do…We can’t play tentative and expect to win any ballgames.”
In Game 1, the Cougars got on the board early with a solo home run by Jordin Jones in the bottom of the first with one out off of freshman Sarah Cornell.
In the top of the sixth, the Pride tied the game after Kristin Hallam led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch.
Brielle Pietrafesa hit a single to shallow left field and advanced to second when the ball was bobbled by the centerfielder, which allowed Hallam to score the tying run.
After Charleston pitcher Sydney Shipley walked Brittany Allocca and Nikki Michalowski drilled a single to left field, the bases were loaded. Izzy Berouty took over on the mound for Charleston and the Cougars turned a double play on an attempted sacrifice fly by Lacey Clark, catching Pietrafesa in a rundown resulting in her getting tagged out at home.
With the game still tied in the bottom of the seventh, Alyssa Irons took over for Cornell after a lead-off single, striking out the first batter she faced. After walking the next batter, runners were on first and second. They moved to second and third after a groundout to first, and an intentional walk loaded to bases to allow for a force-play at any base. The winning run did not require a hit as another walk brought the tie-breaking run home and Charleston pulled ahead to win the first game of the afternoon.
Cornell fell to 16-8 on the season. She struck out six and walked five in six innings while giving up two runs. Irons pitched two-thirds of the seventh, in which she walked three and struck out two.
Irons took the mound again as the pitcher for Game 2. Charleston put up four runs on five hits in the bottom of the first inning to jump out to a 4-0 lead over the Pride.
Hofstra got a run back in the top of the fourth after Allocca singled on a ball back to the pitcher and Michaloski followed with a double to the wall in left-center. Clark hit a sacrifice fly that brought Allocca home to make the score 4-1 Charleston.
Charleston added another run in the bottom of the fourth on a RBI from Jones, making it 5-1.
Hallam singled in the top of the fifth to extend her hitting streak to 10 games.
After a 12-pitch plate appearance in the top of the sixth, Allocca walked for her team-leading 21st time of the season, but the Pride was unable to overcome the four-run deficit. Charleston retired the side in the bottom of the seventh to sweep the doubleheader.
Irons is now 5-8 on the season with the loss.
“Our pitchers have to throw the ball better. We can’t give up as many walks as we did, especially in that first game. Make them put the ball in play,” Coach Anderson said.
“That’s really where it starts. It starts in the circle and that really sets the tone. Offensively, we have to have better plans. We can’t hit both sides of the plate and be early on the outside. We have to know what we’re looking for and stay disciplined.”
The Pride will look to close out the series against the Cougars with a win on Sunday morning at 11 a.m.
