Preview: Hofstra set for CAA title clash against Towson
Only one team can be crowned the 2023 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) softball champion. The challengers are the No. 3 seed Hofstra University Pride and the No. 5 seed Towson University Tigers.
The Tigers won the previous day’s matchup between the two sides on Friday, May 12, in a pitcher’s duel. If they win the championship game, Towson will become the CAA champs. Hofstra will need to win this game and a second game due to double elimination to win the tournament.
The Pride has lost three straight games to the Tigers but still leads the all-time series between the two sides 78-25.
Hofstra enters this game needing a win. The lineup saw firepower from Aliya Catanzarita who destroyed a ball to left field for her third home run of the season. Catanzarita is heating up at the right time for the Pride, as she had three hits across both games for the Pride the previous day. She has driven in eight runs in the entire month of May so far.
Kasey Collins also had three hits across two games for Hofstra. Collins and Meghan Giordano currently have 18-game on-base streaks heading into the CAA championship. Julia Apsel pitched 6.2 innings on Friday, starting game one and coming out of the bullpen in game two.
For the Pride, this is their 15th appearance in the championship game since joining the CAA in 2002. Hofstra looks for its 10th conference title, but Adrienne Clark, in her second year as the Pride’s head coach, knows that Towson will be a worthy foe.
Despite only being held to four hits the entire game, the Tigers still came away with a win over Hofstra on Friday. Maddie Gardner pitched a complete game for the team, going all seven innings and striking out three in the process. This is Towson’s seventh overall championship game appearance in program history and their first appearance since 2016.
The battle for the CAA crown is set for noon. Game two, if necessary, is tentatively scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at Bill Edwards Stadium.
Photo courtesy of Alexis Friedman/Hofstra Athletics
