April 1, 2007
Box Score
Hempstead, NY - Catcher Lesley Hassen singled with two outs in the fifth to spoil a perfect game bid from Hofstra sophomore Kayleigh Lotti, but the Hofstra Softball team completed a three-game sweep of George Mason with a 7-0 win on Sunday afternoon at Hofstra Softball Stadium.
Mason slips to 11-21 overall and 0-6 in conference play with the loss, while the Pride improves to 18-11 on the season, including 5-1 in the CAA.
Lotti retired the first 14 batters on Sunday before Hassen grounded a change-up back up the middle to give the Patriots their only base runner of the day. Pinch runner Shaniqua Steele was then caught stealing, as Lotti pitched to the minimum 21 batters to get the win and improve to 8-4 on the season. She ended the game with nine strikeouts and no walks.
Offensively, the Pride jumped out quickly to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on Sunday, using six singles and three George Mason errors to get the early advantage. Sophomore second baseman Casey Fee led off by getting hit by a pitch and came home on an RBI single from junior shortstop Pam Dreslinski. An error and a single from senior right fielder Ashley Lane then loaded the bases with one out.
Hofstra left fielder Melissa Hodge singled up the middle to score Dreslinski, although sophomore Dee Murray was able to throw out Courtney Oliver at the plate trying to score from second to give the Patriots their second out of the inning. Freshman first baseman Michele DePasquale capped off the scoring when she singled to score Lane, with Hodge racing home from second when right fielder Paige Miller mishandled the ball. Hofstra tacked on two more singles to re-load the bases, but shortstop Kelsey Mack made a lunging catch of a scorching liner from Fee to finally get the Patriots out of the inning.
Hofstra extended its lead to 5-0 in the third inning with three more singles, the last one an RBI single through the right side from sophomore center fielder Erika Bernstein. The Pride tacked on two more runs in the fifth as Fee hit an RBI triple to right-center with two outs and came home on an RBI single from sophomore catcher Carolann Lubach.
Becky Anderson went 2.1 innings and allowed two earned runs to take the loss in the circle for George Mason and slip to 3-9 on the year.
The Patriots will return to action when they host Mount St. Mary's for a non-conference doubleheader on April 4 at 3 p.m.
