Sarah Cornell picked up two wins in the Friday doubleheader to lead Hofstra softball 8-0 over Kennesaw St. and 7-1 against Stetson.
Cornell, now 4-1 this year with a 1.06 earned run average, tossed five scoreless innings in the opener, striking out three batters with no walks handed out and one hit surrendered. The lone hit was given up in the fourth inning.
In the second game, Cornell fired out seven innings with 12 punch-outs and one run. She now has 46 total strikeouts in 33 innings pitched in the early campaign.
In the opening game, Hofstra tacked on two runs in the first inning unconventionally. Breaking the scoreless tie, leadoff hitter Kristin Hallam crossed home plate on a wild pitch. A few batters later, Lydia Witkowski scored after Sarah Edwards struck out on a dropped third strike, causing the catcher to throw Edwards out at first. Witkowski courageously took off for home and made it 2-0 Pride.
Hofstra showed off the power and added four more runs in the third frame. Witkowski smacked a two-run triple to left center, followed by a two-RBI home run from Brittany Allocca. Hofstra stayed in the driver’s seat with a 6-0 lead.
Allocca’s game was not over, however. She clobbered another two-run extra-base hit in the fifth inning to force the mercy rule, and ending the matchup.
In the second game, Hofstra posted two three-run innings to pull ahead of Stetson. Nikki Michalowski and Witkowski each hit RBI doubles in the second inning along with a RBI bunt from Hallam to snag an early 3-0 lead.
Michalowski and Witkowski each tacked on another double in the fifth inning to score more Pride baserunners, pulling Hofstra ahead 7-0.
Allocca helped out with the offense barrage, picking up another run batted in during the fourth inning on a double to left field.
Between both games, Allocca went 3-5 with five runs batted in and two walks and is now hitting an even .500 through her first 20 at-bats of the season.
Michalowski in total had three hits in four at-bats with three runs batted in and three runs scored. Witkowski also went 3-4, crossing home four times with four RBI. Hallam also contributed three hits with four runs.
Hofstra (5-2) returns to action with two games Saturday against Texas Tech and Florida A&M in Orlando.
