HEMPSTEAD, NY – Graduate pitcher Kayla Douglas (L, 3-11) had her second straight excellent outing for North Carolina A&T in the circle but unfortunately, for the second straight time, the Aggies could not quite pull out the win as Hofstra held off a late A&T come-from-behind attempt to defeat the Aggies 4-3 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) softball play on Saturday at Bill Edwards Stadium.
The Pride, the defending CAA champions, won the series on Saturday, improving to 12-17 overall and 10-4 in CAA play. The Aggies will try to avoid the sweep on Sunday when the two teams play at noon from Edwards Stadium. The Aggies dropped to 8-25 overall and 2-12 in league play.
Douglas pitched superbly from the beginning, which was necessary after the Aggies surrendered nine first-inning runs on Friday. But the Pride stranded one on base in the first and two in the second to leave the game scoreless going into the third inning.
The Aggies had a chance to strike first in the third as Hofstra starting pitcher Julia Apsel (W, 11-5) opened the frame by hitting freshman Trinity Glover with the first pitch of the inning. Apsel walked senior Alyxx Estrada with one out, and graduate Brenay Howard singled to load the bases. But Apsel secured strikeouts against sophomore Makayla Layton and junior Joey Barkhimer to escape the inning unharmed.
Hofstra did pick up a run in the home third when Becca Vaillancourt homered to left-center field. Douglas retired the Pride in order after the home run, sending the game into the fourth inning with the Aggies trailing 1-0. A&T went down in order in the fourth but had another bases-loaded situation in the visitor's fifth.
A&T loaded the bases thanks to two walks and a hit-by-pitch. But with two outs, Barkhimer hit a sharp line drive to third that Mackenzi Fitzgerald grabbed for the third out. Hofstra then used a bases-loaded walk and a two-run single from Chelsea Manto in the sixth inning to take a 4-0 lead into the seventh. But A&T put up a massive fight in the frame.
Anna Butler replaced Apsel to open the seventh and promptly walked sophomore Katriel Williams on five pitches. Estrada and Howard also walked to load the bases for the Aggies for a third time in the game. Apsel returned to the circle but could not prevent the Aggies from scoring this time. Layton hit a two-run RBI single into left field, scoring Williams and Estrada to cut A&T's deficit to two runs, 4-2.
Barkhimer's fly out to center allowed Howard to reach third, setting up freshman Jamari Moss's RBI single up the middle to cut Hofstra's lead to 4-3. Apsel survived, however. She struck out freshman Destiny Sims and got Kayla Taylor to pop out to end the game. Howard and Moss had multiple-hit games, with Howard going 2-for-2 with a run scored and Moss posting a 2-for-4 day with an RBI.
