Georgia State stuns Pride with two wins
An emotional end for Hofstra's Tessa Ziemba in the CAA final. (May 13, 2011) Credit: Patrick E. McCarthy
Hofstra had won 16 conference softball championships and appeared on track for another until Friday, when Georgia State beat the Pride twice, 4-2 and 2-0, to earn the CAA title and an automatic NCAA Tournament berth. "We're shocked. We're stunned right now,'' ace pitcher Olivia Galati said. "We have no words.''
Hofstra (40-13) entered the day needing only one victory to capture the double-elimination tournament. The Pride had beaten Georgia State (36-23) four times in the previous seven days, with Galati winning three of those games.
The sophomore righthander had a 2-0 lead until the sixth inning of the first game, when it all unraveled and set the tone for a day that had started with joyful anticipation of a 13th NCAA bid but ended in tears. The Pride still could get an at-large bid, but the chances of that are slim.
Whitney Phillips singled with one out in the sixth and scored from second on Jessica Clifton's two-out single. When Brenna Morrissey reached on an infield single, Hofstra coach Bill Edwards had seen enough. He brought in Erin Wade to face Lauren Jones, who smacked an 0-and-1 pitch to left for a three-run home run, her 13th homer of the season.
Alana Thomas held Hofstra to three hits in the second game. Wade matched her until the sixth, when Jones singled home a run and Paige Nowacki's infield hit made it 2-0.
Edwards explained why he removed Galati, who set a Hofstra single-season record with 29 wins, against Jones, who was 2-for-20 against her the last two years. "She went from 64 [mph] to 59 in a hurry,'' he said. "I asked her how she was. Of course, a pitcher is going to say, 'I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine.' I have to go by what I'm seeing. I saw a little bit of a lack of pop on her ball . . . I just felt it was the right time to pull her.''
Jones has 31 homers in her four-year career. "Obviously, [Wade] missed with a pitch and Jones took care of business,'' Edwards said. "Erin's a quality pitcher . . . She just missed a pitch.''
"Whoever was pitching,'' Jones said, "I was determined.''
Said Galati, "I never would give up on my team. A coach's decision is a coach's decision, and I'm with him all the way. I may have lost a little pop, but I wasn't going to let that stop me . . . We'll use it to drive us next year.''
