Hofstra upsets No. 2 seeded UNCW, moves to semi-final Friday
The sun was blazing over Bill Edward Stadium on Thursday, May 11, as the Hofstra University softball team was tied with the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks (UNCW) in the top of the ninth inning with two outs and bases loaded. Madison McKevitt crowded the plate, and the next pitch she saw was pulled down the right field as UNCW right fielder Morgan Britt watched the ball soar over the wall into the bushes for a grand slam.
“It was so amazing,” said Hofstra head coach Adrienne Clark. “Honestly, I’m kind of speechless. The team put everything together and continued to battle, never gave up and continued to lock in. They found a way to get it done.”
McKevitt’s grand slam catapulted the Pride in a 9-5 victory over the Seahawks on Thursday, May 11, dethroning the No. 2 seed in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) tournament.
After defeating the Stony Brook University Seawolves the day before, Hofstra had to answer a tough call in UNCW as the number three seed in the tournament. Clark sent Anna Butler to the mound to go up against Kara Hammock.
The first inning saw Hofstra get on the board first with an Aliya Catanzarita walk. An error resulting in a pass ball on the UNCW catcher allowed Chelsea Manto to slide in to score the first run of the game. Butler could not hold down the Seahawks' offense, however, with a two-run home run from Jada Santiago to snatch the lead back to 2-1. The Seahawks added another run in the third with a single to right field to make it a 3-1 game.
After allowing three runs in three innings, Clark went to the bullpen and sent Nikki Mullins out in relief to contain the Seahawk's offense. Mullins did not disappoint. She got the win, holding down UNCW in 6.2 innings pitched and allowing only two runs on three hits in the middle innings.
“Nikki has always done a phenomenal job for us,” Clark said. “Today she went out there with the confidence that she knew how to get them out. She was unphased in every single situation and continued to throw her game. When she did that, really great things happened.”
The Pride seemed unphased at the top of the third, creating opportunities on the base paths with an Angelina Ioppolo single scoring Giordano to come within one run. After an error by UNCW shortstop Mary Sobataka, Hofstra tied the game at three. Another passed ball sent Becca Vaillancourt home to jump ahead 4-3. Hofstra did not stop there, with McKevitt's first hit – and certainly not her last on the day – to make the score 5-3.
However, UNCW continued to fight back with a Santiago sacrifice fly and a Sobataka single up the middle to tie the game at 5. With an offensive beginning to the game, both sides of the pitching dominated to hold both teams scoreless in the middle innings. Hofstra created many opportunities to take the lead but could not cash in until McKevitt’s grand slam heroics in the extra innings.
“I think our approach was and continued to be the same,” Clark said. “The reminder to them was just to be where their feet are and just look to get a good pitch. Look to make contact and stay behind the ball. McKevitt did exactly that; she got the first pitch she saw, and she just turned on it. She didn't even finish her swing because she didn't have to; the ball just went, so it was really awesome.”
With a now 9-5 lead in the ninth, Julia Aspel got the nod to close out the game with emotions flying high from the Hofstra dugout.
“We are working for our entire pitching staff together, and we’ve had success this year when we have relied on all of them,” Clark said. “Julia warmed up a couple of times just to make sure she was ready. It was a game-time decision, so when we took that lead, we were gonna have Julia come in and close it out.”
In a monumental win for the Pride, Hofstra can see itself in a big momentum swing for the rest of the tournament. “It’s such a confidence builder,” Clark said. “When you can continue to stay locked in and win a game like this in extra innings, it puts us in a really good position to continue being confident in us and what we are doing, because when we do that, really good things happen.”
Now Hofstra will have a quick turnaround and go up against the fifth-seeded Towson University Tigers at Bill Edwards Stadium on Friday, May 12, with the first pitch set for noon.
“I'm really excited to have the opportunity to play them,” said Clark. “You’ve got teams where anything can happen on any given day; it makes it so much fun to be a part of. It’s always fun to play against people you know and respect.”
Photo courtesy of Alexis Friedman/CAA
