Meghan Giordano’s three-run home run rallied and set the tone for the Hofstra Pride softball team in their second game of a doubleheader with the Elon Univerisity Phoenix ending the day with a split on Friday, April 21.
“Meg is such a competitive hitter and she’s so dynamic with what she can do,” said Hofstra head coach Adrienne Clark. “What was so cool in that first inning is that she got a good pitch a crushed it. That sets the tone and the momentum shifts in our favor. I think what’s even more impressive is the people behind her. That came up and got on base, so we were able to get six runs in that inning. When you can punch back like that, it’s a really good feeling.”
In the first game, Hofstra started with a bang, a triple towards the gap in left-center by Chelsea Manto, allowed her to score off a wild pitch to take a quick 1-0 lead in the first. But that put a cap on the Hofstra hitting behind a stellar performance by Elon’s McKenna McCard. After the first, she allowed three runs on six hits with two strikeouts in 6.2 innings pitched for the Phoenix.
On the other side, the Phoenix blazed with multiple executed bunts and took advantage of errors by the Hofstra defense, scoring in the third and fifth inning to take a commanding 8-1 lead. Hofstra seemed to have some life in the seventh inning, cutting the lead to 8-3 on a passed ball and a single to left field from Anna Butler but the damage had been done for the Pride in the first game losing 8-3.
“I don’t think we had as many locked-in moments as we did in game 2 offensively,” Clark said. “We swung out of the zone a little bit and whenever you expand the zone it makes it harder to find consistency. So I was really excited to see us be able to flip that script and press reset in game 2.”
After dropping five runs in the first inning behind a poor performance from Annabella Pisapia, who allowed five runs on three hits in only 0.1 innings pitched for the Pride setting up a huge relief effort from Nikki Mullin, who did not disappoint.
“It was phenomenal,” Clark said. “She came in and she threw her game. She threw really competitive pitches and she got them to get miss hits. She did enough for us to secure the win. It was awesome.”
Mullin pitched 6.2 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits with four strikeouts. Which was enough to hold down Elon for the win on the day.
After Giordano’s home run to make it a 5-3 game in the first, The bats came alive for Hofstra. Madison McKevitt’s singled through to right field scored Angelina Ioppolo creeping their way back still behind 5-4. But an error by the third basemen propelled the Pride over Elon 6-5 scoring two runners on the play all in the first inning.
Hofstra continued to add to their lead with another RBI single by Alanna Morse, the score was now 7-5 in favor of the Pride. In the fifth, a bases-loaded hit by pitch and another error by Elon’s third basemen further extended their lead to 9-5.
However, Elon bounced back in the sixth inning, scoring three runs. An error by Ioppolo followed by an Allee Serring RBI single cut the Hofstra lead to 9-7. Then a bases-loaded walk this time for Elon propelled them back now within one run of Hofstra 9-8.
But in the bottom half of the same inning, Hofstra delivered again. A pinch-hit RBI double by Aliya Catanzarita helped Hofstra build an 11-8 lead.
“We’ve been talking to the team about how it takes every single person, whether you’re on the bench or in the game,” Clark said. We keep working to prepare them to be ready for any situation that comes their way. What’s so amazing about them is that they set the tone. They set the tone for what their offensive at-bat is going to be. Both of them did a phenomenal job in those roles.”
The Phoenix responded with a deep solo homerun by Chloe Hatzopoulos cutting the lead to 12-9. But the rest of the Elon lineup could not answer the call falling to the Pride 12-9 in the second game of their doubleheader.
With the split, Hofstra improved to 19-23 overall and an 11-6 record in conference play so far this season. The softball team will look to complete the series win over Elon on Sat, April 22 with the first pitch set for 11 a.m.
Photo courtesy of Stephen Gorchov
