The Hofstra softball team fell to the Liberty University Flames 6-3 on Saturday, Feb. 19, in Leesburg, Florida. The loss dropped the Pride to 0-3 for the season.
Nikki Mullin got the start for the Pride but only lasted 2.2 innings and allowed two earned runs. Liberty came out of the gates hot, with Kara Canetto getting things going with the game’s first score following a groundout to shortstop in the top of the first inning. The Pride could not respond in the bottom of the first after its first four at-bats.
Both teams went scoreless in the second inning, with Mullin giving up zero hits and striking out one. It was a different story in the third inning, with Liberty scoring two runs to extend its lead to 3-0. The Pride once again came up short during its turn at bat, heading into the fourth inning without a run.
In the fourth, the Flames scored again to go up 4-0 after a wild pitch from Hofstra’s Julia Apsel. Hofstra got on board thanks to a single from Madison McKevitt, which gave Sam Ward the chance to go home to make it a 4-1 game.
After a scoreless fifth inning, Liberty’s Janessa Plummer took advantage of Caroline Hudson’s triple down rightfield to go up 5-1. A pop-up to second base from Hofstra helped hold off the Flames momentum with two players on base.
The Pride responded well, playing its best inning of the game in the sixth. Ward got things going with a single toward third base. A throwing error by Liberty’s Megan Johnson brought Angelina Ioppolo to first base, which allowed Amanda Maffucci to score from second to make it a 5-2 game. McKevitt drove in her second run for the Pride, with Olivia Malinowski going home for the score, cutting the deficit to two.
Liberty answered Hofstra’s late-game rally, scoring off of a throwing error to extend its lead to 6-3. The Flames executed off a fly ball near rightfield, turning it into a double play to help seal the victory for Liberty.
For the Pride, Chelsea Manto recorded her third-straight multi-hit game. Ward and McKevitt added two hits. Apsel pitched four innings in relief for Hofstra, striking out two in the loss.
Photo courtesy of Rachel Vogel/Hofstra Athletics
