The Hofstra University softball team completed their series sweep of Drexel University with a 9-5 victory on Sunday, March 29. The Pride have now won six consecutive Coastal Athletic Association games, improving to 11-1 in conference play and 16-14 overall.
Following a two-run first inning from the Dragons, the Pride responded with all nine of their runs in the bottom of the inning. Dahlia Palacio led the team with three RBIs, and Lily Yepez finished the game with a 3-3 performance.
Madison Steppe made her 13th start in the circle for the Pride. Through one inning of work, she allowed four earned runs on three hits, striking out two hitters. Emma Falen appeared in relief, shutting down the Dragons offense after surrendering a home run on the first pitch. Her nine strikeouts tied a season high.
Hofstra head coach Susan Cassidy-Lyke talked about what she saw from Falen following the home run in the second inning.
“[Falen] settled in,” Cassidy-Lyke said. “You know, she’s very hard on herself. She went back, took a couple deep breaths and went right after it after that.”
For the Dragons, Courtney Kols made her third start of the series in the circle. In 5.1 innings pitched, she allowed three earned runs on four hits, striking out two hitters.
Drexel scored their first runs of the series with two runs on two hits in the first inning. The Dragons placed a runner in scoring position after Olivia Sciulli led off the game with a single and Kylah Reading walked. The bases were loaded after Alanna Morse could not make a play on a groundball hit by Natalie Alldred. Steppe bounced back to strike out Kalea Calugay for the first out of the game. Jackie Masone kept runners on the corners with a double down the left field line to score Sciulli and Reading. Macie Bergmann walked to load the bases for the second time in the inning, but Steppe escaped trouble, striking out Devyn Demchak and getting Annabelle Smink to ground out to end the inning.
The Pride erupted for nine runs on six hits in the bottom half of the inning. After Morse grounded out to start the game, the Pride loaded the bases after a walk to Palacio and back-to-back singles from Gabby Sultan and Chelsea Villar. Ryleigh Smith blooped a single to left field to score the first run for the Pride. Nicole Cancel tied the game on an RBI groundout to Demchak, loading the bases for the second time in the inning. Mackenzie Fitzgerald followed with a double on the first pitch to give the Pride a 5-2 lead. Yepez, the ninth hitter of the inning, dunked in a single to score Fitzgerald. Morse singled and Palacio sent a ball over the right field wall for her second home run of the series.
Smith followed up her six-RBI performance in the second game of the series with her RBI in the bottom of the first.
“I think [the girls] know that everyone’s going to get an opportunity, and it’s good we’re getting it throughout the lineup,” Cassidy-Lyke said. “So, today we knew we needed to put [Smith] in the batting order after yesterday.”
The Dragons scored three runs in the second inning to trim the lead to four. Steppe allowed the first two batters to reach base, as Quinn Cunningham wore a pitch off the sleeve, and Sciulli singled for her second hit of the game. Falen appeared in relief, surrendering a home run to Reading on the first pitch. Falen struck out two of the next three batters she faced to escape further trouble.
Falen continued to command the strike zone, striking out the side in the fifth inning on nine pitches.
Yepez recorded her eighth multi-hit game of the season, surpassing her totals from her freshman and sophomore seasons. Morse extended her hitting streak to 11 games, and Sultan extended her streak to 10 games.
The Pride travel to Jersey City, New Jersey, for a non-conference doubleheader against Saint Peter’s University on Tuesday, March 31. First pitch from Joseph J. Jaroschak Field is scheduled for 1 p.m.
