Brielle Pietrafesa’s two-run blast in the fifth inning would prove to be the difference-maker as the Hofstra softball team opened up conference play with a 3-2 win over UNC Wilmington on Saturday afternoon at Fordham’s Bahoshy Field.
“Today’s game was huge, the energy was outstanding,” said Hofstra head coach Larissa Anderson after the win, Hofstra’s fifth in a row. “It was good to get that first win under our belt.”
After some reshuffling of the schedule, Hofstra found itself opening up Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play at Fordham due to this week’s snowfall rendering Bill Edwards Stadium unplayable.
Despite this uprooting, Hofstra kept up its recent hot streak, riding good pitching and some timely offense to edge past the Seahawks.
Pietrafesa’s home run was an opposite-field job that broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fifth inning. It was Pietrafesa’s fourth home run of the season, most on the team so far this year. The senior outfielder has swung the hot bat this season for the Pride this season, and especially in recent weeks; Pietrafesa is batting .700 over her last three games, with three homers and nine RBI.
Pietrafesa also leads the team in extra-base hits (seven), RBI (20) and slugging percentage (.574).
The two-run shot brought in Kristin Hallam to score, after she reached base on a one-out single. Hallam had scored the Pride’s first run of the game back in the first inning, leading off the home half of the inning with a triple, and then stealing home. This tied the game at one after a homer from UNCW’s Hannah Adamcyzk put the Seahawks on the board first in the top half of the first.
Hallam and Pietrafesa each had a pair of hits to lead the Hofstra offense, with Sarah Edwards, Courtney Scarpato and Nikki Michalowski adding a hit apiece.
Sarah Cornell shined on the mound for the Pride, as she has done time and time again over the last two seasons. She threw 6.1 innings, allowing two earned runs on six hits and striking out 12.
UNCW added a run in the top half of the seventh inning, after Cornell had been lifted in favor of Sophie Dandola, but the freshman was able to work out of a jam and slam the door shut on the Seahawks.
Hofstra will be back at Bahoshy Field on Sunday for a doubleheader with the Seahawks, starting at 11 a.m.
