The Hofstra softball team found themselves on both sides of blowouts Saturday, Feb. 23 in the second day of the Mardi Gras Invitational in Mobile, Alabama. The Pride defeated the Nicholls State Colonels 8-2 to start the day but dropped their second game to the host, South Alabama Jaguars 8-0 in five innings.
The Pride (1-6) got its runs early on starting pitcher Alexis LaBure, scoring six in the first two innings. Meghan Giordano got things going with one out in the first, recording two of her four RBI with a single, scoring Kristin Hallam and Casey Collins.
Hofstra really got going in the second. With two outs, Lydia Witkowski hit home pinch runner Amanda Maffucci to make it 3-0. Later in the inning, after Giordano walked Witkowski home, Hallam and Collins each got their second runs of the game on a Courtney Scarpato single.
Hallam would finish with a trio of runs, notching her third on a Giordano double in the fifth while Madison McKevvitt finished the scoring in the seventh, doubling in Scarpato. The Pride recorded a season-high ten hits.
Nicholls State (8-5) scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth on a two-run double from Veronica Villafranco. Those are all the runs Hofstra pitcher Mackenzie Suto would allow, however, as she went the distance, only giving up three hits the whole game while ringing up seven strikeouts en route to her first career win and improving her record to 1-2. LaBure took the loss for the Colonels.
Game two of the day didn’t go so well for Hofstra.
South Alabama (7-6) played hard in front of their hometown crowd, putting up four spots in the third and fourth innings. Back to back two RBI doubles by Dayla Gulledge and Abby Krywieki in the third got the Jaguars on the board while a single from Kamdyn Kvistad followed immediately by a three-run home run by Katelyn Gruich put the game out of reach in the fourth.
All eight runs came with two outs. Hofstra’s Madison Burns dropped to 0-4, giving up four runs on four hits and five walks in three innings of work. Courtney Scarpato gave up four runs on three hits in the fourth inning. Alexis Reid recorded the win for South Alabama.
The Pride was unable to keep the momentum going in the afternoon, playing a tough back to back.
Meghan Giordano finished the day a combined three for six at the plate. The freshman is the only player on the team to start all seven games and have an average over .300, she’s hitting .313.
The Pride will finish the Mardi Gras Invitational Sunday against Steven F. Austin University at 12:15. A win would give Hofstra a .500 record in the tournament.
