The Hofstra Pride took a quick trip to the Bronx, but not couldn’t come away with the victory at Bahoshy Field. The Fordham University Rams took down the Pride 2-1 on a chilly, misty day on Wednesday, April 5. Hofstra drops to 13-20 on the season, while Fordham improves to 12-17.
Holly Beeman improved her record to 6-5 on the season after going the full seven innings for the Rams. She struck out four Hofstra hitters, while only giving up four hits and one earned run. She currently has a season ERA of 1.86. Nikki Mullin picked up her seventh loss of 2023 for the Pride. She gave up two earned runs and struck out one Ram in four innings of work.
Fordham was able to put pressure on Mullin early in the bottom of the first, but to no avail. Neleh Nogay reached first on an error by Hofstra third baseman Brianna Morse, advancing to second on the errant throw, which was followed by Mullin walking Bailey Enoch to put runners on first and second. But Mullin was able to induce an infield fly out and a groundout to shortstop to evade the threat.
The Pride had a similar situation in the top of the second. With two outs, Beeman hit Madison McKevitt with a pitch and then gave up a single to Gianna Iaquinto before getting Kayla Wilson to line out.
Fordham got the scoring started in the top of the fourth inning. Julia Martine began the inning for the Rams by doubling off Mullin into right center field. Sarah Taffet then took the first pitch of her at bat to right field and ran all the way to third for a triple, scoring Martine. Kate McGuire followed with an RBI double into right field. No further damage was done, as Mullin recollected herself and forced back-to-back groundouts.
The Pride began to claw back in the top of the seventh inning. With two outs, Iaquinto got her second hit of the day, this time an RBI double that scored pinch hitter Aliya Catanzarita. Iaquinto then advanced to third base on a wild pitch, putting the tying run 60 feet from scoring. Olivia Malinowski was walked, putting runners on the corners with two outs. But the Rams prevailed, forcing Collins to line out to shortstop for the final out.
Iaquinto had her third multi-hit game of her career at Hofstra, with this being her first since she did it against College of Charleston on April 5, 2022. Chelsea Manto also stole her 15th base in this game in the third inning. She currently leads the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in that category.
The Pride hope that the home cooking can get them back on track, as head coach Adrienne Clark’s team returns home to host the Towson University Tigers. Friday, April 7 will involve a doubleheader, with game one from Bill Edwards Stadium at 1 p.m. and game two at 3:30 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Rob Cuni/Hofstra Athletics
