No. 25 Softball Falls in Nine Innings to Hofstra, 3-2

Saturday, March 10

Clearwater, Fla.

6:00 PM

NC State

18-8

Hofstra

9-9

NC State

Hofstra

No. 25 Softball Falls in Nine Innings to Hofstra, 3-2

3/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Softball

Box Score

CLEARWATER, Fla. – No. 25 NC State ended its stay at the USF adidas Invitational with a gut-wrenching loss, 3-2, to Hofstra in the Gold Flight bracket on Saturday, March 10, in Clearwater, Fla. The Pride scored one unearned run in the bottom of the ninth to bounce the Pack from the tournament. With the loss, NC State falls to 18-8 (2-1 ACC) on the season, while Hofstra moves to 9-9.

Allison Presnell put the Pack on the board in the top of the second with a single up the middle, scoring Shanna Smith from second. Smith reached first on a fielder’s choice, then stole second, before Presnell sent her across the plate.

Three consecutive singles to start the bottom of the second allowed the Pride to tie the ball game, as Ashley Lane, Courtney Oliver and Melissa Hodge all placed base hits. Shaina Ervin then struck out Laura Jaxheimer, before Kristine Root, running for Oliver, was forced out at third on a fielder’s choice by Michele DePasquale. Erika Bernstein got the Pack out of the inning by grounding out to Jen Chamberlin at third.

Despite allowing Hofstra to tie the game, it was only a matter of minutes before NC State reclaimed the lead. Laura Klem led off the top of the third with a monster double to left that nearly found its way out of the ballpark. Heather Gelbard then knocked Klem in immediately with a double of her own to almost the exact same location, putting the Wolfpack up 2-1.

The Pride evened things up again in the bottom of the third when Oliver doubled to left and knocked in Carolann Lubach from second base. Hofstra had runners on second and third with two outs, but Jennifer Patterson threw out Lane at third when she waltzed mid-way down the third base line on a called strike to Hodge that slipped out of Patterson’s catcher’s mitt.

NC State placed Ashleigh Davis on second base to start the top of the eighth as it marched into extra innings for the second time in as many days. Following a Klem strikeout, the Pride intentionally walked Gelbard. But Claudia Cooper and Chamberlin both went down swinging and the Pack missed its opportunity.

Bernstein started at second for Hofstra in the bottom of the eighth and Casey Fee popped-up to Presnell at first for out number one. Lubach then sent a fielder’s choice to Smith at short, who caught Bernstein in a rundown and eventually tagged her out. In the meantime, however, Fee skipped over to second base. Ervin then fanned Pam Dreslinski to force the ninth inning.

Chamberlin started the top of the ninth at second base, and Patterson quickly moved her to third with a well-placed bunt in front of the plate. Sims then walked, putting runners and first and third with one out. Miranda Ervin, pinch-hitting for Smith, was then ruled out in the batter’s box due to interference, and Presnell struck out swinging.

The Pride had Dreslinksi on second as it began its half of the ninth. Lane moved Dreslinski to third on a groundout to second, and the Pack then intentionally walked Oliver and Hodge to load the bases with one out. Ervin then got Jaxheimer out on swings for the second out. DePasquale followed with a grounder to third that Chamberlin bobbled, and Dreslinksi scored the winning run.

Ervin (6-5) took the loss, giving up five hits and two earned runs while striking out six batters. Kayleigh Lotti (5-3) earned the win, holding the Pack to four hits and collecting 12 strikeouts.

NC State will hit the road again next week to participate at the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, Calif., Thursday, March 15 through Sunday, March 18. The Pack will start things off with two games on Thursday, opening with Pacific at 12 p.m. eastern, and later taking on Arizona at 2:15 p.m. eastern.