Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz softball team (15-6, 8-0 SUNYAC) remained undefeated in league play on Saturday at Mary Gray Deane Field, sweeping SUNY Plattsburgh (12-10, 4-4 SUNYAC) in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) doubleheader. The Hawks won game one, 3-0, before taking game two by an 11-8 final.

Game one was a low-scoring affair, as the Hawks plated all of their runs in the first three innings.

Junior first baseman Chelsea Kull (Manorville, N.Y./Eastport South Manor) pushed across the first run of the game in the home half of the first, scoring sophomore designated player Shayna Burgess (Smithtown, N.Y./Commack) with a bases-loaded single. New Paltz kicked off the bottom of the third with back-to-back singles from senior second baseman Melissa Liotta (Brentwood, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) and sophomore right fielder Marissa Monaco (Bohemia, N.Y./Connetquot), and after two straight outs, senior center fielder Andrea Feeney (Ulster Park, N.Y./Kingston) cleared the bases with a two-run single to center field. Plattsburgh then relieved its starter, Samantha Moss, in favor of Ashley Marshall, and Marshall ended up holding the Hawks hitless the remainder of the contest. The Cardinals, however, were held scoreless, and New Paltz held on for the game-one win.

Liotta and Monaco keyed the Hawk bats in the front end of the twinbill. Liotta batted 2-for-2 with one run scored, while Monaco went 2-for-3 with one run scored. Feeney finished with a game-high two RBI.

Senior pitcher Amber Carozza (Milton, N.Y./Marlboro) threw a shutout for the second time in as many days, allowing two hits, two walks and one hit by pitch while striking out three. Moss was tagged with the loss, lasting 2 2/3 innings. She yielded three runs off seven hits and one hit by pitch while striking out one. Marshall hurled 3 1/3 frames of hitless relief and struck out 10.

Marshall was unable to repeat her strong game-one performance in game two, as she lasted just four innings before being pulled in favor of Morgan Anderson.

Plattsburgh took an early 2-0 lead in the second, as Kerry McCarty singled up the middle with two outs to score Megan Price and Kristine Gay. New Paltz answered in the bottom of the inning, as Kull laced an RBI double to left center before coming around to score herself on an RBI single by sophomore left fielder Noelle Grande (Massapequa Park, N.Y./Massapequa).

Brewer helped give the Hawks the lead with a sacrifice fly in the third, while freshman catcher Jordan Fiore (Mount Sinai, N.Y./Mount Sinai) made it a 4-2 game in the fourth with an RBI single to the shortstop. That lead was short-lived, however, as the Cardinals plated three runs in the fifth to seize a 5-4 advantage.

New Paltz broke the game open in the fifth and sixth innings. The Hawks scored three times before Plattsburgh was able to record an out in the fifth, as Monaco and Kull each plated a run before Brewer came across off a throwing error by Marshall. New Paltz then boasted three consecutive RBI hits with one out in the sixth, with Monaco, Brewer and Kull accounting for each. Grande's RBI single up the middle that pushed across Kull later on in the frame served as the Hawks' final run of the contest.

The Cardinals threatened in the seventh, as Gay and Price each singled to lead off the inning. Freshman pitcher Katie Rutcofsky (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy) struck out Michelle Iannone looking for the first out, but Plattsburgh answered with runs in two consecutive at-bats. McCarty boasted an RBI single down the left-field line before Price scored due to a throwing error. With runners on second and third, Kristin Nabor drew Plattsburgh within three runs with an RBI ground out. Brianna Clarke ended up fouling out to Kull in the next at-bat, which served as the game's final out.

Game two featured six multi-hit performances for the Hawks. Monaco went 3-for-4 with two RBI, one run scored and a double; Kull went 3-for-4 with three RBI, two runs scored and two doubles; Feeney went 3-for-4 with one run scored; Fiore went 2-for-4 with one run scored and one RBI; Brewer went 2-for-2 with three runs scored, two RBI and a double; and Grande went 2-for-4 with two RBI.

Plattsburgh was led offensively by Clarke (3-for-5, one double), Gay (2-for-3, three runs scored), Price (2-for-3, three runs scored, one RBI), Iannone (2-for-4, one RBI) and McCarty (2-for-4, three RBI, one run scored).

Rutcofsky moved to 5-0 for the year, allowing eight runs—six of which were earned—off 12 hits and four walks while striking out five. Marshall was saddled with the loss, permitting seven runs—six of which were earned—off 11 hits, a walk and a hit by pitch while striking out four. Anderson threw two innings of relief, yielding four runs off five hits and a walk while striking out two.

New Paltz continues its 10-game home stand on Wednesday, April 10, as it hosts Western Connecticut State University in a non-conference doubleheader. The first pitch of game one is slated for 3 p.m.