HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- A walkoff winner in the bottom of the seventh inning gave Hofstra a 1-0 victory over the Georgia State Panthers and sent the Pride to Friday's Colonial Athletic Association Softball Championship game. The loss sends GSU into an elimination game against the winner of No. 3 Towson and No. 4 Delaware at 5 p.m. on Thursday.
With the bases loaded and one out, Hofstra catcher Laura Valentino hit a grounder to shortstop Paige Nowacki that the sophomore bobbled. The throw to home was not in time as CAA Player of the Year Sara Michalowski slid safely to give the Pride the 1-0 victory.
Hofstra improved to 40-11 on the season, while Georgia State dropped to 33-23.
Neither team had many chances to score as the starting pitchers for both clubs pitched absolute gems. Hofstra's Olivia Galati and Georgia State's Alana Thomas battled back and forth all day as each allowed only three hits. Galati (29-7) struck out 10 while walking one. Thomas (8-9) struck out four and walked one. The shutout was Galati's NCAA-leading 17th of the season.
GSU's only real scoring opportunity came in the fifth inning. With two outs, Whitney Phillips reached on an infield single and Maddy Stanton hit a shot through the ride side to give the Panthers runners on first and third. A long pop up ended the threat.
Hofstra's only other opportunity came in the second inning when Thomas worked around runners at first and third with a strikeout and a groundout to Nowacki to end the inning. Nowacki had four assists and a putout on the day. Between the second and seventh innings, Thomas retired 14 batters in a row.
Fans can follow the 5 p.m. game via GSU's online blog or live stats online.
