March 6, 2009

Hofstra Box Score
NC State Box Score

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The UIC softball team started off the 2009 USF Under-Armour Invitational with a 5-1 loss to Hofstra, followed by a 4-1 setback to North Carolina State on Friday afternoon.

The Flames (2-13) opened up the day against Hofstra with the freshmen duo of Melinda Macias and Ashley Hewett both going 2-for-3, with Macias plating UIC's lone run in the contest with a seventh-inning RBI single.

Hofstra scored a pair in the first inning and then were held to only a single hit in the next three innings before The Pride scored it's final three off of five hits in the bottom of the fifth. With Brooke Frydendall on third, Macias hit a two-out single that drove Frydendall home in the seventh.

In five innings, Hewett scattered seven hits, and in relief, Whitney Orellana struck out a pair in an inning of work in the circle.

The second game of the day saw the Flames come out on the offensive, as three of the first four batters picked up hits against the Wolfpack.

Sarah Clynes and Macias both drove the ball straight up the middle, with Macias stretching out her hit into a double. Two batters later, Melissa Marinacci tallied her team-leading eighth RBI of the season with a single that allowed Macias to reach home.

NC State would take the lead back in the bottom of the first with a pair of runs and would never let UIC back in the game, tacking on two more runs in the second. Three of NC State's four runs would come off of bases-loaded walks by the Flames.

UIC will face Ball State at 10 a.m. CST on Saturday before an undetermined afternoon contest scheduled for either 3 p.m. or 5 p.m. Both games tomorrow will be available on gametracker via uicflames.com.