Friday in Tampa, the Pride (41-13) play South Florida (48-11) in the opener of their best-of-three super regional series with a chance to reach the Women's College World Series for the first time.
Hofstra is riding a school-record 20-game winning streak and is in the super regionals for the first time. The Pride have used the toughness forged during their early-season gantlet and the sensational pitching of junior Olivia Galati to finally get there after falling in the regional round 13 times previously.
"I remember asking the team (during the losing streak), do you want to be hot now, or do you want to be hot at the end of the season," said coach Bill Edwards. "I felt sure at some point we were going to turn this around because our work ethic was so strong."
Edwards has built Hofstra into a regional power in his 23 seasons and has captured the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season or conference tournament crown for the last 21 years.
"Early on, I recruited all over the country," Edwards said. "In the last 10, 12 years, my philosophy became wanting to get the best kids from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. I wanted to show the rest of the country that we can play softball here and reach the College World Series."
Galati, from West Babylon, N.Y., personifies that homegrown approach. She is 33-5 this season and has won 31 consecutive starts, two shy of the NCAA record. Her earned run average of 0.91 is the lowest in Division I.
"I loved that (Edwards) recruited Northeast and Mid-Atlantic kids," Galati said. "We have been on a mission to send a message to the rest of the country that we can play at the highest level."
The Pride were riding a 17-game winning streak when they lost to Lehigh, 7-6, in the second game of a doubleheader April 11. Edwards said that was the turning point in their season.
"We went out to right field, and I've never had a team be so devastated over a weekday loss," Edwards said. "I saw how much chemistry this team had, how much they hated to lose."
Hofstra has not lost since. After sweeping through the CAA tournament, the Pride were sent to the Los Angeles Regional and drew No. 12 seed and 12-time national champion UCLA in their opening game. UCLA had beaten Hofstra 9-4 in early March in one of Galati's poorer efforts.
"After that game I wanted a second shot at them, so when we were heading to UCLA we were all excited," Galati said. "We all loved having a chance to beat (the Bruins) in their own house."
Galati led the Pride to a 7-2 victory and followed that with two wins against San Diego State, allowing one run in 14 innings, to win the regional.
"She has phenomenal command and has late action in the (strike) zone," Edwards said. "And the has the mental toughness to stay focused and make the big pitch at the big moment. She wants to be in that situation."
Galati also leads the team with a .361 batting average. Outfielders Rachael Senatore and Tessa Ziemba are hitting better than .320 and have combined for 66 RBI. Shortstop Becca Bigler and Ziemba each have 11 home runs.
"About two weeks ago it was like a switch had been flipped," Edwards said. "The players sensed they had it figured out, and the energy and enthusiasm just kept growing. Everything came together at the right time."
Now, Hofstra faces a South Florida team in the super regionals for just the second time after ousting No. 5 overall seed Florida in the Gainesville Regional.
"They are very similar to us, so it will come down to timing ?who gets the hit or makes the pitch that has to be made," Edwards said. "They have a dominant pitcher in (Sara) Nevins, and we're obviously going to ride Secretariat (Galati). We hope to hold them early and find a way to win late."
Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomCollegeSports-TopStories/~3/vUdE6mWSSIw/1
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