While Stony Brook may have bested Hofstra in the first four games the two teams met, the Hofstra University softball team took the most important of their meetings, ending the Seawolves’ season in playoffs, 2-0. On Thursday, May 9, Julia Apsel tossed a complete game shutout and struck out eight in the process.

The Pride opened the scoring in the fourth as Olivia Malinowski led off the inning with a double to right field. Aliya Catanzarita then reached on a throwing error by Kyra McFarland at shortstop, setting up runners on first and second with no outs. Chelsea Villar laid down a sac bunt, moving both runners into scoring position.

Alanna Morse singled up the middle, knocking in Malinowski to give Hofstra the first run of the game.

Catanzarita kicked off the sixth inning with a leadoff single. Hofstra head coach Adrienne Clark put some speed on the bases, putting Tyler Douglas in to pinch-run for the Pride’s first baseman. Villar reached base safely on a fielding error by McFarland, setting up runners on first and second with nobody out once again. McFarland made costly errors in both innings that saw scoring for the Pride.

After Morse went down swinging, Mackenzie Fitzgerald came in with an RBI single up the middle, scoring Douglas from second to give Hofstra a 2-0 lead. As mentioned in the CAA championship preview, Fitzgerald and Morse have come up clutch under the bright lights of postseason softball.

The Pride continue their playoff run on Friday, May 10, against the regular season champions and CAA top-seeded, the Campbell University Camels. First pitch is set for 12:30 p.m to avoid projected inclement weather. If Hofstra beats the Camels, they’ll play the loser of the University of Delaware and UNC-Wilmington game, which starts on Friday at 5 p.m.

 Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Doug Neeb