The Hofstra Pride softball team finished up their weekend in Alabama at the Mardi Gras Invitation with a 7-3 loss at the hands of Stephen F. Austin State University on Sunday Feb. 24. Mackenzie Suto got the starting nod for the Pride, pitching four innings, giving up six hits and allowing seven runs, five of which were earned.
Suto ran into some very early trouble in her outing. Within the first five batters, she found herself in a bases loaded jam with two outs, after an error, a walk and a hit by pitch. She got out of it within two batters, but not before allowing a two-run single.
She settled down until the fifth inning, when she loaded the bases up again. She walked in a run and then allowed a three-run double, finishing her night before she could record a single out in the fifth.
In the fourth inning, Hofstra had loaded the bases themselves, scoring one run on a sacrifice fly by Madison McKevitt and two runs on an error hit by Lyndsey Shaw, who was pinch-hitting for catcher Devyn Losco.
Hofstra received hits from four different players, including multi-hit games from both Kristin Hallam and Kasey Collins. Additionally, Meghan Giordano and McKevitt recorded hits. With her hit today, Hallam extended her streak of reaching base to seven games, while Giordano and Collins extended their hitting streaks to three games.
Part of Hofstra’s offensive struggles was being able to hit with runners on base. Hofstra went 2-14 with runners on base, and neither of these hits yielded any runs.
The Pride’s inability to rally when down has been a problem throughout the young season, as they have gotten into early deficits that they have not been able to overcome.
In relief of Suto was fellow freshman Madison Burns. Burns got through her two innings efficiently, allowing two hits and striking out two batters. She didn’t let up a run in her two innings of work.
The two hits from Collins brought her batting average up to .412 this year. Her performance this season has been indicative of the talent of the freshman so far. Three of the four team leaders in batting average are freshman and Giordano still has the only home run of the year for the Pride.
The Pride finish with a 1-3 record at the Mardi Gras Invitational, with their game against No. 25 Illinois University being cancelled.
Their next opportunity to win will be part of their Interstate-75 Challenge, with games against Kennesaw State University, Georgia Tech University, and Georgia State University, starting on Friday, March 1 in Kennesaw, Georgia.
Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics
