Hofstra Falls to No. 19 South Florida Twice Saturday, Eliminated From NCAAs
USF 2, Hofstra 1 (Game 2)
Tampa, FL - South Florida scored a pair of runs in the top of the
ninth and a Hofstra rally in the bottom of the ninth came up short as the Bulls
forced a decisive third game of the Tampa Super Regional with a 2-1 victory
over the Pride on Saturday afternoon at USF Stadium.
Hofstra falls to 42-14 with the loss, seeing its school-record 21
game win streak come to an end. South Florida improves to 46-12 with the
victory.
Game three of the series will start at 6:04 p.m. The winner
of the third game will head to the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma
City, OK next week.
Junior pitcher Olivia Galati took the hard luck loss for Hofstra as
she fell to 34-6 this season. She saw her streak of 32 straight wins come
to an end, one off the single season NCAA record.
A pitcher's duel developed once again early on between Galati and
South Florida pitcher Lindsey Richardson.
In the first inning, USF got a leadoff single from Gina Kafalas,
but she was stranded at third to end the threat. The bottom half of the
inning would see Hofstra put together its own scoring opportunity as junior
center fielder Rachael Senatore singled to leadoff the inning and the
Pride had runners on first and second with two outs after a walk. The
threat was ended, though, as senior third baseman Krista Thorn struck
out to end the first stanza.
Both squads would go down in order in the second inning before
Hofstra put runners on again in the third inning. Senatore picked up her
second hit of the contest and stole second on the next pitch, but back-to-back
outs by the Pride left her at second.
Hofstra would load the bases in the fourth inning as junior right
fielder Tessa Ziemba walked
to start the inning and Thorn then reached on an error by the second baseman.
After a sacrifice fly from senior catcher Courtney Crews put runners on the corners,
South Florida brought Sara Nevins in to pitch to sophomore second baseman Tori Rocha. Nevins would strike out
Rocha, but junior designated player D.J. Slugh was
hit by a pitch to load the bases. Hofstra was unable to bring any runs
across the plate, though, as senior left fielder Michelle Lavagnino grounded out to third base to end the
fourth inning.
The "visitors" - South Florida (Hofstra is the home team in the
game), would have their best chance so far in their half of the fifth inning.
A pair of errors on the Pride allowed the Bulls to have runners on first
and third with just one out. Galati would come up huge once again,
though, as she struck out Nevins and induced a groundout to end the
inning.
Hofstra looked to have a quality scoring chance in the bottom of
the seven as Slugh reached on an error and later in the inning Senatore was
walked to put two runners on with two outs. After Richardson returned to
the pitching circle for the Bulls, she struck out junior shortstop Becca Bigler to
end another Hofstra threat and send the game to extra innings for the second
consecutive game. It marked Hofstra's first time playing back-to-back
extra innings games this season.
South Florida would get on the board first in the game as they
scored twice in the top of the ninth. Stephanie Medina led off the inning
with a single and the Bulls would have runners on first and second with one out
after a sacrifice bunt and a hit by pitch. Kenshyra Jackson would then
plate the first run as she singled to right to score Ashli Goff. The
Bulls would add an insurance run as Laura Fountain hit a sacrifice fly to right
to score Kourtney Salvarola.
Hofstra gave it all they had in the bottom of the ninth as Crews
led-off with a single. Slugh would be hit by a pitch with one out and
with two outs, Senatore singled to shortstop to load the bases. Bigler
then added an infield single to score the Pride's first run of the game, but
Galati grounded out to short to end ninth inning for Hofstra.
Senatore finished 3-4 for Hofstra, while Bigler was 1-5 for the
Pride with the lone RBI.
Sara Nevins improved to
30-5 with the win for South Florida.
USF 2, Hofstra 1 (Game 3)
Tampa, Fla. - Junior Olivia Galati threw her third complete game in the
three-game series and held No. 19 University of South Florida to just two runs
on five hits, but Stephanie Medina's fifth-inning sacrifice fly proved to be
the difference as the Bulls won, 2-1, in the elimination Game 3 of the Tampa
Super Regional on Saturday evening at USF Softball Stadium.
Hofstra, which won Game 1 on
Friday to move one game away from the Women's College World Series, lost both
Games 2 and 3 on Saturday by a single run. The Pride capped a season in which
it qualified for its first-ever super regional with a 42-15 record. USF's Sarah
Nevins (31-5) threw 5 2/3 innings without giving up an earned run to send the
Bulls (50-12) to the first WCWS in program history.
All three games in the super
regional were decided by a single run, including Friday's 2-1 Hofstra win in 11
innings that was the longest super regional contest in NCAA history. The
combined attendance for the two-day event was 3,105.
Galati threw 27 innings over two
days with Games 1 and 2 going a combined six extra innings. The West Babylon,
N.Y. native saw her personal winning streak snapped at 32 with a 2-1, 9-inning
loss in Game 2 but still finished the season 34-7 and a 0.93 ERA.
Galati threw every inning in Hofstra's six NCAA Tournament games after also
tossing every pitch for Hofstra in a 3-0 run in the Colonial Athletic
Association championship tournament and set program records in single-season
wins, strikeouts (378) and career strikeouts (1,018) with a season of
eligibility remaining.
The series lived up to the hype
with both Galati and Nevins entering with sub 1.10-ERAs. Both aces factored in
every decision in the six games. Galati, a right-hander, threw 328 total
pitches in sweltering heat in the series while Nevins, a left-hander, logged 18
innings with Lindsey Richardson sharing some of the workload.
After USF scored the go-ahead run
in the fifth, Hofstra generated a chance to tie the contest. Junior Rachael Senatore started the inning with a leadoff
infield single and stole her 12th base in 14 attempts this season. Hofstra then
capitalized on a USF mental mistake when, on a Becca Bigler ground out,
Senatore appeared to be thrown out at third base for a double play. The umpires
award Senatore third base on an obstruction call and Nevins' four-pitch walk to
Galati put runners on the corners with one out.
A strikeout and another walk
loaded the bases for senior Courtney Crews, who hit a rise-ball hard the
other way but directly at Gina Kafales in right to leave the bases loaded.
USF took its first lead in
regulation in the entire series in the top of the inning. Kafales's leadoff
single up the middle gave the Bulls a base runner. A sacrifice bunt and a wild
pitch moved the right fielder to third base. Medina then hit a medium-deep fly
ball to center that Senatore camped under to catch.
Senatore squeezed the ball for
the out and delivered a strong throw home but not in time as Kafales slid in
safely for the 2-1 USF lead.
Galati, who threw 110 pitches
over nine innings in Game 2 less than 24 hours after tossing a complete-game
victory in the Pride's 11-inning win, took the circle again in the third game.
USF took advantage of Galati's
heavy workload from the previous games but didn't hit her hard in getting two
infield singles sandwiched around a hit batter in the top of the first. Galati
then worked Bulls cleanup sixth hitter Kenshrya Jackson deep into the count
before walking her on the 10th pitch force in Jessica Mouse with the opening
run.
That marked just the sixth run
Galati surrendered in 41 2/3 innings in NCAA Tournament play, but the righty
escaped further damage with a ground out that stranded the bases loaded.
Bulls third baseman Jessica Mouse
made two stellar plays at third base, ending the threat with two runners on
base with a line-drive catch in the third and keeping the score tied at 1 with
a 5-5-3 double play in the third after Galati and junior Tessa Ziemba started
the frame with back-to-back singles.
A walk and an error put two
runners on for the Pride in the bottom of the inning to bring up senior third
basemanKrista Thorn. With the infield playing a shade
beyond the bag, Thorn ripped a line drive that appeared headed to the left side
before Mouse made a lunging catch to end the threat and keep USF up, 1-0.
Hofstra sustained pressure in the
second with sophomore second baseman Tori Rocha slicing
an opposite-field single to left. Rocha moved to second on a groundout and Game
1 hero Michelle Lavagnino's infield single to short
put runners on the corners with two outs. USF elected to walk junior Ziemba
intentionally to load the bases with the Bulls replacing Nevins with the
right-hander Richardson to face the right-handed hitting junior Becca Bigler.
Richardson's second pitch sailed
slightly high out of the strike zone but catcher Laura Fountain couldn't catch
it for a passed ball, allowing Rocha to score while putting two runners in
scoring position. Richardson struck out Bigler to end the threat with the score
tied at 1.
Galati and Ziemba ignited
Hofstra's offense with back-to-back singles off Richardson to start the third
before Mouse completed her double play and a fly out kept the game knotted.
Kourtney Salvarola started the
fourth with an opposite-field double that fell just short of the
right-centerfield wall in front of the scoreboard. A sacrifice bunt and an
infield single put runners on the corners with one out. Galati then bared down
to get the strikeout before Ashli Goff hit a hard line drive to right on which
Ziemba made a running catch to strand two USF runners in scoring position.
Hofstra finished with a 40-win season for the sixth time in the
last eight seasons. In their final collegiate games, Thorn worked a walk, Crews made
three putouts behind the plate and Lavagnino went 1-for-3.