By Tim Robertson
Déjà vu struck the softball team last weekend as they split a doubleheader on Friday against CAA opponent James Madison, but picked up the series victory with a win on Saturday – just as they did last season – to improve to 15-8 on the season.
The Pride poured on the offense in the first game on Friday and crushed the Dukes 9-0. The loss is JMU’s worst shutout loss of the season, and worse than any last season.
The eventual game-winning run came in the first inning, as sophomore Kris Root led off with a walk, stole second and then went to third on an Erika Bernstein single before coming home on a passed ball. A couple singles later from junior Carolann Lubach and Casey Fee combined with an RBI groundout by Melissa Hodge, and the Pride led 3-0 after one frame.
The Dukes attempted a comeback by loading the bases on junior Kayleigh Lotti, but the veteran slammed the door on the only major threat James Madison would mount.
Hofstra would capitalize on a series of opportunities in the fourth and sixth innings, including another RBI groundout, this time by Bernstein, who finished 2-for-5 with an RBI for the game. In the sixth, the Pride used James Madison errors to plate another pair of unearned runs. Of the Pride’s nine runs, they earned only four as the Dukes committed three errors.
In the seventh, Hofstra piled it on with a two-run single by sophomore Michele DePasquale, her second RBI of the season.
Lotti blanked the Dukes with nine strikeouts and allowed just five base runners throughout the first game, with no James Madison runner advancing past first base after the second inning.
In the age old “let’s play two” style, the two teams went at it again, but this time the Dukes would emerge victorious in a pitcher’s duel. James Madison starter Meredith Felts threw a four-hit shutout to notch the 3-0 win, her fifth of the season.
With the start, Felts redeems herself from a poor outing in Hempstead, when she got knocked out in the second inning, and brought back memories of a similar pitcher’s duel in 2006, her freshman year. Felts didn’t allow an earned run through nine innings and struck out nine, but her team committed five errors, which led to a Pride 3-1 win.
Freshman Sara Michalowski’s bid for a fifth win went for naught, as she allowed just one earned run on six hits in five innings of work. She allowed a run in the third when Dukes shortstop Melissa Hill doubled and scored on a two-out error. James Madison tacked on a pair in the fifth en route to their 14th win of the season.
Lotti returned to the chalked circle for the series finale on Saturday, much to the dismay of the Dukes. Lotti picked up where she left off 24 hours before, striking out a dozen, and once again allowing just one run in another complete game. The junior walked a pair and allowed just three hits. The 21 strikeouts on the weekend give Lotti 56 for the season, giving her 558 in her career, which leaves her 80 short of the school record.
The only blemish on Lotti’s box score was a solo home run in the fourth by Dukes third baseman Amber Kirk.
Lotti benefited greatly from a pinch-hit solo home run from Michalowski in the seventh, which gave the Pride some breathing room heading into the final frame. The Pride came away with a 3-1 win.
The Pride used some small ball to score its first two runs of the game with a series of slap hits, bunts, stolen bases and benefiting from errors. Bernstein and Fee each notched an RBI.
Root, who stole a base in that vital third inning, picked up her second swiped bag of the weekend, and her 14th of the season, out of 15 attempts, leaving her one short of Hofstra single-season stolen bases record.
The Pride travels to Maryland this weekend for a three-game series with the Towson Tigers, and finally will make its Hempstead debut on April 2 against Lehigh.
Hofstra canceled home games before spring break against Stony Brook and St. Joseph’s due to inclement weather, meaning its April 2 home opener will be the Pride’s latest opener dating back to at least 2000, according to the athletic department.