The New Paltz Women’s Softball team took to its Mary Gray Deanne Field Saturday, April 30, at noon to play their final regular season doubleheader against SUNY Oneonta. The Hawks split the scoreboard as they lost in game one, 1-3, but came back with a second-game victory, 8-5.
The much-needed win improved New Paltz to an overall record of 25-15 for the regular season and 12-6 in the SUNY Athletic Conference. The Hawks soared as they secured the fourth seed in the SUNYAC Tournament. SUNY Oneonta’s Red Dragons, on the other hand, earned the third seed after the split.
Game one started at 12 o’clock sharp and second-year pitcher Lindsay Roman started off very strong, striking out Red Dragons left and right. In the top of the first, Roman struck out Red Dragon fourth-year shortstop/second-baseman Caroline Koch, second-year Gianna Cancelleri, and third-year Melissa Nagel, back-to-back. Roman gave up just three hits in seven innings with a career-high of 10 strikeouts.
Unfortunately, Roman’s luck struck out as Oneonta’s rookie first-year Julia Serena scored a solo home run early on in the top of the second. The Red Dragon rookie also led the offense as she added a double in the fifth inning, and capitalized once again after New Paltz Hawk second-year second-baseman Rhionna Bianchini had a miscommunication error.
New Paltz struggled to take flight in the finals innings of the game, continuously failing to put players into scoring position. Third-year outfielder Sydney Bonewit was left stranded at second in the bottom of the fifth. Then the Hawks wasted loaded bases in the sixth with no outs to begin with as third-year Madison Maggs, fourth-year Carol Ann Campsey and first-year Nicole Greco all struck out swinging.
It wasn’t a complete shutout loss though as Bianchini blasted the ball to left outfield, earning a double. With two outs already and it being the bottom of the seventh, third-year catcher Jessica Graepel stepped up to the plate determined to save the scoreboard. Graepel singled, sprinted to second and helped bring in a run as Bianchini headed to home plate, finishing out game one’s score 3-1.
In the second and final game of Saturday’s doubleheader, which started at 2 p.m., our Hawks regrouped offensively and came back stronger than ever in a vengeful turnout. Second-year Jillian Shelbourne doubled to left field, gaining an RBI as Katie Quagliana scored in the bottom of the first, making the score 1-0, New Paltz. The score increased in the bottom of the second as fourth-year Jillian Harrison slyly advanced to third on a throw and ultimately scored.
However in the third inning, the Oneonta Red Dragons didn’t completely back down as four runs were scored, causing the Hawks to trail behind 4-2.
Quagliana brought back the morale as she fired an one-out double into the opposite right field. Shelbourne followed up at bat as she hit a single, causing her teammate to advance to third. Graepel came in clutch, following, as she gained two RBIs under her belt, plating Quagliana and second-year pitch-runner Isabella Shepherd.
The runs just kept on coming for the Hawks as they soared to new heights. Greco broke the ball past the Red Dragons’ defense, gaining another RBI as Graepel re-took the lead. Campsey also piled on, tripling to deep right field, allowing for Greco to come back home, making the score 7-4.
The Hawks added one more run to the scoreboard in the fourth inning- kudos to another double by Quagliana. Shelbourne assisted at her at-bat, singling to move her teammate forward. She then placed herself in a pickle, allowing for Quagliana to come home to cushion the score 8-4.
The Red Dragons threatened to take the lead multiple times during the sixth inning, as they had multiple back-to-back hits, a walk, and bases-loaded. Roman came to the rescue, re-entering the mound and grinded to strikeout the next three batters, keeping the score 8-5.
Be sure to support our Hawks in the post-regular season as they go up against the Red Dragons again in Geneseo, NY on Thursday, May 5 at 1 p.m!
