The Hofstra University softball team lost to the College of Charleston Cougars 8-0 after five innings of equal play due to the run-ahead rule on Saturday, May 4. With this loss, the Pride fell to 21-24 overall and 17-10 in the Coastal Athletic Association while the Cougars improved to 10-39 overall and 4-23 in the CAA.
Charleston took a commanding lead in the third inning. Mia Dittoe led off with a single to left field. Brooke Tranum was issued a hit-by-pitch to make it runners on first and second with nobody out. After Malaka Belser worked a walk to load the bases, Shealyn Starks roped a two-RBI single to right field, scoring both Dittoe and Tranum.
With the bases still juiced and two outs in the inning, Sierra Paradis singled through the left side of the infield, scoring both Starks and Belser to give the Cougars a 5-0 lead.
Charleston tacked on three more runs in the fourth. Brooke Marquez doubled to left field and advanced to third as Halle Cannon and Starks came around to score. Then Paradis singled to left center, scoring Marquez. The Cougars led 8-0 after four.
Annabella Pisapia got the start for Hofstra. Her day ended after two-plus innings of work as she got pulled for Marisa Ogden in the middle of the third inning after allowing the first three batters to reach base safely. Pisapia allowed four runs on three hits, one walk and two hit batsmen. Ogden pitched two innings in relief and allowed four runs on six hits and no walks. Neither pitcher for the Pride struck out an opposing batter.
Hofstra was out-hit nine to two in this game, but one player, in particular, has been seeing the ball well as of late. Freshman second baseman Nicole Cancel has had trouble at the plate all season. In the three-game series against Charleston, she went two-for-six at the plate. While all of her at-bats haven’t resulted in hits, Cancel has been taking better swings and she’s worked the count.
This loss from the Pride not only snapped their six-game win streak but also fell to the sixth seed in the CAA, where they will play Stony Brook University in the first round of the CAA tournament. The Pride got swept by Stony Brook three weeks ago on their home field.
The Long Island showdown is set for Wednesday, May 8, at 2:30 p.m. in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Antonio Giammarino Jr.
