After having their 11-game winning streak snapped by Providence over the weekend, the UConn softball team looks to get back on track against Hofstra on Wednesday.
The Huskies lost two of three to the number one team in the Big East over the weekend. They started the series off with two heartbreaking one-run losses, including a 4-3 loss in extra innings on Saturday. Connecticut bounced back with a 12-4 mercy rule win in the series finale.
Despite the two losses at Burrill Family Field, Connecticut is 11-2 at home and will try to make it 12-2 on Wednesday.
UConn currently sits third in the Big East standings with a conference record of 13-5. They face second place Creighton in Storrs this weekend, but for now, their eyes are on the Hofstra Pride.
Hofstra (26-18) has been a force in the CAA all season, owning a record of 18-3 in conference play. Currently riding a four-game win streak, the Pride swept Stony Brook on the road this weekend. They played a close one against fellow Big East team St. John’s, losing just 2-0 in the beginning of April.
Alanna Morse is their slugger, as she has belted eight home runs this season. Morse has not hit one out since April 4. However, she is still hitting .342 with an OPS of 1.005. The senior has only struck out nine times in 44 games, making her trouble for the UConn pitching staff.
Emma Falen and Madison Steppe have pitched 222 of Hofstra’s possible 284 innings. Despite throwing almost 120 innings, Falen has a 2.16 ERA and has struck out 107 batters on the season. In back-to-back games against Drexel at the end of March, Falen allowed just one run in 12 innings pitched while also striking out 12.
Steepe opened her season by pitching nine innings in a game against Florida Gulf Coast. The freshman has an 11-3 record, and opponents have a batting average of .240 against her. Both will be heavily featured against the Huskies.
UConn is 19-25 all-time against Hofstra, with their last matchup coming in 2020. The Huskies dropped 9 straight games to the Pride in the early 2010s when Hofstra was consistently making the NCAA tournament. Connecticut took their last match up by a score of 7-0 in 2020.
For the Huskies, it has been the top of the order producing all season long. Headlined by Cat Petteys and Savannah Ring, three of the top five batters in the lineup are batting .300 or higher.
Petteys has 15 home runs on the year, including one against Providence on Friday night. The 2025 Big East Freshman of the Year is slugging .764 and has only struck out 22 times on the season. She will look to raise her .365 batting average on Wednesday.
Ring has been consistent all year out of the two hole in the lineup. The senior had a four-hit game against Butler and has had 14 multi-hit games this season. If Kaitlyn Kibling gets on base from the leadoff spot, Ring is a good bet to produce some offense against the Pride.
The Connecticut pitching staff is led by Caprice Bohmer and Jessica Walter. The pair have appeared in a combined 61 games, with 14 wins and 10 saves.
Walter, who transferred from Providence to UConn after four seasons with the Friars, pitched against her former team for the first time last weekend. The graduate student went 2.1 innings and allowed two runs in Saturday’s extra innings loss. She has been solid this season, posting a 3.69 ERA.
Bohmer has had a great freshman campaign. She pitched in eight of UConn’s 11 straight victories, never allowing more than three runs in any game. Bohmer has 109 strikeouts on the year, and opponents are hitting .248 on the season against her. She has started 19 of the 46 games this season and Head Coach Laura Valentino could choose her to take the mound against the Pride on Wednesday.
The Huskies only have eight games left in the season, with six of them against Big East opponents. They need to continue the momentum from their 11-game win streak before the Big East Tournament starts on May 7.
First pitch against Hofstra is slated for 3 p.m. on Wednesday.