Hofstra Upsets Top-Seeded JMU, Earns 14th Title Game Appearance
Tim McDonnell
Championship Central |
Championship Bracket
#2 Hofstra 9, #1 James Madison 6 | Boxscore | Highlights
HARRISONBURG, Va. – Hofstra seniors Brittany Allocca, Sarah Edwards, and Megan Patierno each hit a home run and combined to drive in eight of their team’s nine runs as the No. 2 seed Pride upset top-seeded James Madison, 9-6, in Game 5 of the 2018 CAA Softball Championship at Veterans Memorial Park.
Hofstra advances to the title contest for the 14
th time in program history (and second straight season), improving to 39-12 overall while snapping a five-game losing streak to Dukes dating back to last year’s championship.
The 2018 CAA Softball title game, scheduled for Noon on Friday, will be broadcast live on
CollegeSportsLive.com (CBSi). Hofstra will face an opponent yet to be determined, as No. 1 seed James Madison (41-11) will come back tonight in Game 7 to take on the winner of No. 4 UNCW and No. 5 College of Charleston, who meet in Game 6 at 3:50 p.m.
Allocca hit her 13
th homer of the season in the first inning to give her team a quick 2-0 lead, Edwards smacked a three-run home run in the third, and Patierno added her own three-run shot in the fifth for Hofstra, which moved to 10-6 against the Dukes in CAA postseason play all-time. Freshman Sophie Dandola tossed 6.0 frames in relief of 2018 CAA Pitcher of the Year Sarah Cornell, earning the win and moving to 16-5 in the circle. Dandola allowed three runs, three walks, and six hits, while Cornell gave up three runs and three walks in 1.0 inning of work.
James Madison, currently ranked No. 22, fell to 41-11 overall and had its 11-game winning streak come to an end. 2018 CAA Player of the Year Odicci Alexander started in the circle for the second straight game and allowed five runs on four hits in 3.1 innings. She also hit a three-run homer in the setback. Freshman pitcher Payton Buresch (18-5) absorbed the loss and was tagged with four runs and two walks over 3.2 frames.
Senior Morgan Tolle added a two-run double and sophomore Kierstin Roadcap contributed a solo home run in the seventh inning to account for JMU’s other runs in the loss.
Allocca launched a two-run shot into the left field bleachers to give the Pride an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first, but it was short-lived. Cornell walked senior Morgan Tolle and sophomore Kate Gordon in the bottom half, before Alexander came up with two outs and crushed a 2-2 offering over the wall in center for her 14
th home run of the season, and a 3-2 JMU advantage.
Following a scoreless second inning, Edwards made JMU pay with one out in the third. Senior Brielle Pietrafesa walked, and then stole second, while Allocca stayed hot with her second hit of the day to put runners on the corners. That’s when Edwards came through with a three-run blast just over the center field wall to make it 5-3 in favor of the Pride.
Tolle had the answer for the top seed in the bottom half of the third and knotted the game at 5-5 with a two out, two-run double. After a groundout to start the fifth, Buresch issued a walk and then plunked the next Pride batter to bring up Patierno, who then changed the contest with a three-run home run that pushed the lead to 8-5. The contest was then halted for 1 hour and 49 minutes due to weather, and resumed in the sixth as the Pride held on down the stretch for the victory.
2018 CAA Softball Championship
Harrisonburg, Va. | Veterans Memorial Park
Wednesday, May 9
Game 1: No. 5 College of Charleston 8, No. 4 UNCW 6
Game 2: No. 2 Hofstra 9, No. 3 Towson 4
Game 3: No. 1 James Madison 5, No. 5 College of Charleston 3
Game 4: No. 4 UNCW 6, No. 3 Towson 0
Thursday, May 10
Game 5: No. 2 Hofstra 9, No. 1 James Madison 6
Game 6: No. 4 UNCW vs. No. 5 Charleston | 3:50 PM
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. No. 1 James Madison | 6:30 PM
Friday, May 11
Game 8: No. 2 Hofstra vs. Winner Game 7 | 12:00 PM
Game 9: (If necessary) *Immediately Following Game 8