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Hofstra
HOFSTRA FORCES RUBBER MATCH AT CAA CHAMPIONSHIP
5/11/2008 4:00:00 AM | Softball
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y., May 11, 2008 ? Hofstra designated player Sara Oliver ended the third-longest game in James Madison softball history with a walk-off two-run home run with nobody out in the bottom of the 11th inning Sunday. The 3-1 decision forced a rubber match between the two teams that split their first two games of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament.
The home run spoiled a fantastic effort from JMU junior right-hander Meredith Felts (Greenville, N.C./J.H. Rose). Felts took a tough-luck loss, throwing a career-high 10-plus innings, giving up 12 hits, three runs and six walks and while striking out eight.
HU starter Kayleigh Lotti got the win. She threw an 11-inning complete game, allowing three hits and one run while walking nine and striking out seven.
The loss snapped a season-long 13 game winning streak for the Dukes and forced them into a winner-take-all championship game, later in the afternoon.
The Dukes jumped out to the early lead as sophomore center fielder Courtney Simons (Richmond, Va./Deep Run) took Hofstra starter Kayleigh Lotti deep over the left-field foul pole to give Madison a 1-0 first-inning lead. It was the second home run JMU hit off Lotti in this year's championship. Sophomore left fielder Brittney Dyson (Waldorf, Md./Thomas Stone) hit a three-run homer off Lotti in Saturday's semifinal game, helping the Dukes overcome a four-run deficit in the teams' first match up.
HU responded in the bottom half of the inning with a run to tie things up. Second baseman Casey Fee led off a walk and moved to second on a stolen base and third on a sacrifice bunt. She scored on an RBI double down the right-field line by third baseman Sara Michalowski. Felts avoided any more trouble as she got a groundout and a strikeout to strand a runner on third.
