The Hofstra softball team took down the Retrievers of the University of Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) 5-2 on the road at The Diamond at UMBC on a sunny day in Catonsville, Maryland on Thursday, March 23.
With this win, the Pride moves to a 9-15 record on the season. Pitching performances from Annabella Pisapia, Nikki Mullen and Julia Apsel contributed to the win. With the loss, the Retrievers fall to 8-9 on the 2023 campaign.
Pisapia began the game with four solid innings for Hofstra. While she gave up five hits and walked three UMBC hitters, she struck out five hitters and didn’t give up a run. Mullen followed that up with 3.1 innings of her own before the bottom of the eighth.
The game was scoreless until the first extra inning of the game when Hofstra took a 1-0 from Kasey Collins’ single through the left side, sending Amanda Maffucci home safely.
UMBC tied it in the bottom of the eighth inning when Macy Granzow began the inning on second base and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Karly Keating. The Retrievers then score the tying run on an Ashley Della Guardia infield single.
Hofstra took the lead back in the top of the ninth inning after Angela Ioppolo scored on a Brianna Morse double, but that still was not enough for the Pride.
In the bottom of the ninth, Courtney Coppersmith started the inning in scoring position and then moved to third on a single by Lyndsey Evix. However, both women moved up a base due to a throwing error by the shortstop, allowing Coppersmith to score.
The top of the tenth allowed Hofstra to take a lead larger than one run. Maffucci began the inning in scoring position again and advanced to third base on a bunt single by Chelsea Manto. Collins grounded into a fielder’s choice, allowing Maffucci to score, making it a 3-2 game. Back-to-back RBI singles by Meghan Giordano and Ioppolo gave the Pride a 5-2 lead.
Apsel sealed the deal in the bottom of the tenth getting the final two outs to seal the win for Hofstra on the road.
Mullin got her fourth win of the season after going five innings, despite giving up both of the Retreivers’ runs. She struck out three but didn’t walk a batter. Even though Kya Matter went the full ten innings for UMBC, she got her third loss of the season. She struck out four batters but gave up five runs, two of them earned. Apsel got her second save of the season.
The Pride returns to action at home with a three-game weekend against the Monmouth University Hawks at Bill Edwards Stadium on Friday, March 24. Game one begins at 1 p.m. and will be broadcast on FloSoftball.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics/Sidney Chansamone
