Hofstra vs. Georgia State Game Notes - GoHofstra.com

Galati Named To Player of the Year Watch List: Junior
pitcher Olivia Galati (West Babylon, N.Y.) was one of 50
players chosen to the USA Softball Preseason National
Player of the Year watch list, it was announced on Feb. 2.
Galati finished last season with a 29-8 record, a 1.24 ERA
and 348 strikeouts. She posted a 14-1 record and a 0.97
ERA in CAA games, while shutting out every CAA team at
least once (including Georgia State three times).
Hope She Has A Big Mantelpiece: Olivia Galati was
named the CAA Pitcher of the Year for a second straight
time, following a freshman season in 2010 in which she
captured both Pitcher and Rookie of the Year honors (in
addition to CAA first-team and All-Rookie Team
selections). She also won five CAA Pitcher of the Week
awards in her second season as a stellar encore to a
freshman year in which she won five Rookie of the Week
awards and was a four-time Pitcher of the Week.
Bill Edwards
Olivia Galati
Jess Hirschbuhl
Tessa Ziemba
D.J. Slugh
Krista Thorn
Hofstra CAA Postseason Awards
Co-Coach of Year
Pitcher of Year
First Team (2B)
First Team (OF)
First Team (DP)
Second Team (3B)
Experience: Hofstra has 11 juniors and seniors on the
roster and returns its top-four hitting players. Overall, nine
of the Pride’s 10 highest-average players are returning as
2011 CAA Player of the Year Sara Michalowski is the
only one not coming back due to graduation.
Pulling Rank: Hofstra has packed the non-conference
schedule with a slew of challenging opponents, including
five that are nationally ranked in the USA Today/NFCA
Division I Top 25 poll released on Feb. 14. The Pride
opened play against No. 21 Louisville has already opposed
Tennessee (10), Michigan (12), Louisiana-Lafayette (17)
and faced No. 14 UCLA in the Citrus Classic.
Just Say No: Olivia Galati propelled Hofstra to its first win
of the 2012 season by tossing a five-inning no-hitter in the
Pride's 10-0 victory over Virginia Tech on March 2.Galati
struck out seven with the only base-runner for the Hokies
coming on a first-inning walk. The win marked Galati's
fourth-career no-hitter, tying Kayleigh Lotti for the thirdmost
in program history. It was Galati's first no-hitter since
tossing one in the Pride Opening Day victory over UNC
Greensboro to start the 2011 campaign. That no-hitter also
came in an abbreviated game thanks to Hofstra taking a 16-
0 lead in that contest.
Twice As Nice: Olivia Galati looked comfortable in her
first home appearances of the season, recording two wins
and picking up a save in the Pride’s 3-1 showing in the
Hofstra Invitational from March 17-18. She set a career
high with 18 strikeouts in a 1-0, nine-inning win over
Maine on March 17. That broke her previous career high of
17 strikeouts, which was last set in a contest that also went
nine innings (a 3-2 win over Michigan State on March 11,
2011). Galati followed that up with a five-inning completegame
shutout in an 8-0 win over UConn on March 18.
Along with a five-out save in the first game against UConn,
Galati totaled 19 shutout innings in four appearances,
striking out 31 while walking just one batter.
Fresh Take: Freshman Erin Trippi ensured her first
collegiate home game was a memorable one when she
blasted the game-winning base hit to right to end a nineinning
1-0 victory over Maine on March 17. Trippi’s firstcareer
RBI brought in Tessa Ziemba for the game-winning
run. In the four-game Hofstra Invitational tournament,
Trippi went 4-for-12 with five RBIs.
In The Rankings: With just seven walks in 66 1/3 innings,
Olivia Galati is climbing up the national leaderboard in the
fewest walks-allowed per seven innings category. Galati is
allowing an average of .74 walks-per-game, which ranks
fourth nationally in Division I. Hawaii's Kaia Parnaby is
the current leader with .65 per game (minimum 50 innings
pitched).
With four shutouts, Galati is also tied for 29th nationally. In
CAA play, Galati has the lowest ERA (1.58) for pitchers
with more than five innings, allowing just 15 earned runs in
66 1/3 innings.
Senior Courtney Crews earned a spot on a national
leaderboard the hard way, getting hit by a pitch seven
times in 17 games for a .41 average that is 13th-most.
Junior Becca Bigler's four home runs leads the team and is
tied for third in the CAA. She is just two off for the league
lead.
Opposition Scouting: The Pride hold the all-time series
lead against Georgia State, carrying a 21-10 record into the
weekend. The matchup will also pit the two teams that have
been the class of the CAA. Georgia State won the final two
games of the conference tournament to win the league
championship in 2011. That came one season after Hofstra
beat the Panthers at home to win the 2010 CAA
Tournament.
The two teams were picked as the co-favorites in the CAA
preseason poll entering the current campaign. Georgia State
is off to a 20-7 start, including victories in seven of its last
nine games before the Panthers face Georgia on
Wednesday.
Like Hofstra, Georgia State also faces a dependable ace in
sophomore pitcher Kaitlyn Medlam, who has a 2.22 ERA
that is ranked third in the CAA. Medlam is 7-1.
300 K's: Olivia Galati ended her freshman season with 294
strikeouts on the year. All she did for an encore was
become the second player in program history to record 300
strikeouts in a season when she fanned 348 in just 242.2
innings in 2011. Only Kayleigh Lotti had posted a 300-
strikeout season (coming in 2007).
Hofstra Single-Season Strikeout Leaders
K's Player Year
348 Olivia Galati 2011
319 Kayleigh Lotti 2007
294 Olivia Galati 2010
277 Erin Phillips 1996
241 Kayleigh Lotti 2008
236 Kayleigh Lotti 2009