The State University of New York at New Paltz softball team will continue SUNYAC play this weekend when it hosts Oswego State on Friday, April 13 and three-time defending conference champion SUNY Cortland the following day. Both the Hawks and the Red Dragons will sport gold shoe laces during Saturday's matches to raise awareness of childhood cancer through the non-profit charitable organization Go4theGoal.

"It's a great foundation that brings awareness to childhood cancer and we're fortunate enough to have teams in our conference that support those organizations as well," Hawks head coach Samantha Miller said. "Being able to get Cortland on board was great. It'll be a big game and it feels great to represent such a magical foundation. At the end of the day it makes you realize how fortunate we are to be able to represent a foundation like Go4theGoal and all of the unheard voices they speak for."

The organization started in 2006 and their mission statement is to "improve the lives of children battling cancer by providing financial support, developing and implementing unique hospital programs, funding innovative research, and granting personal wishes." For the second-straight year, SUNY New Paltz will participate in Go4theGoal's "Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer" in which teams from youth to professional leagues wear the organization's gold shoe laces to promote their message.

"We are very glad the New Paltz softball team and coach Miller asked us to join them in the Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer awareness event this Saturday," Cortland head coach Julie Lenhart said. "Everyone knows someone that has battled cancer, but the effect is magnified when it strikes children.  It's alarming to know that one in four elementary schools has a student battling cancer. Go4theGoal and this event will help educate while raising money to help fund pediatric research."

The Hawks (10-11-1, 3-1 SUNYAC) and Red Dragons (10-11, 3-1 SUNYAC) are currently tied for fourth in the SUNYAC standings with SUNY Geneseo and SUNY Oneonta. Oswego State (11-7, 4-2 SUNYAC) is tied for second with Buffalo State. 

"We're a little anxious going into this weekend, but at the same time it's not a bad feeling to have those nerves going into such a big weekend like this," Miller said. "We know how important these games are against two very good teams. At the end of the day it doesn't matter who is the most talented, it matters who makes the least amount of mistakes."

Friday's series will be the first time SUNY New Paltz and the Lakers will face-off since the first round of the 2017 SUNYAC Tournament, which Oswego State rallied to win in the final inning by a score of 3-2. The Lakers also swept their regular season series with the Hawks last season.

"We definitely have a chip on our shoulder," Miller said. "If we learned anything from last year it was to not celebrate too soon and be able to finish everything out. That has been the motto for this year: put the nail in the coffin. But we know Oswego is a different team from last year. We can't go into this game with too much confidence, we just have to play our game."

Oswego is ranked fourth in the conference in ERA with a 3.88 mark and sixth in runs scored with 103. Six of the team's starters are batting over .300, including sophomore outfielder Jessica Roe who is seventh in the SUNYAC with a .429 average and junior pitcher Angela Frampton who is tied for fourth in the conference with three home runs.

Frampton's 3.20 ERA is the lowest on the Lakers and seventh in the SUNYAC, while sophomore pitcher Rebecca Vilchez leads the team with 60 2/3 innings pitched.

"Oswego split its series with Cortland this season," SUNY New Paltz sophomore first baseman Kelsey Trudden said. "We are just as amped to play Oswego as we are Cortland and we're going into both of those games with confidence."

Last season, the Hawks and Red Dragons split their series as New Paltz earned its first win against Cortland in three years. The then-No. 18 Red Dragons were 12-0 in conference play prior to the series, but the Hawks gave them their first SUNYAC loss of the season with a 6-1 victory in the first game. It was also SUNY New Paltz's first road win against Cortland since 1994 and its first victory against a nationally ranked opponent since 2013.

"We know they're a great team and taking one from them last year means nothing for this year," Miller said. "We can't take them lightly. We are capable of beating good teams, like we've done against Tufts and Ramapo this season, we just need to show up and play the way we know we're capable of."

The Red Dragons are ranked second in the conference in ERA with a 3.11 mark. Junior pitcher Sam Van Dorn is the biggest reason for the team's success in the circle, as her 57 strikeouts lead the SUNYAC and her miniscule 1.61 ERA is ranked second. No one else on the team holds an ERA below 4.34. Cortland also boasts a strong lineup, as they lead the conference with 14 home runs and are fourth in runs scored with 116. Junior first baseman Hannah Feldman leads the SUNYAC with six home runs and sophomore outfielder Kelly O'Gorman is tied for second with four.

"I transferred from SUNY Plattsburgh and we never beat Cortland," SUNY New Paltz sophomore third baseman Taylor Fischer said. "Last year New Paltz beat Cortland so my teammates already got a taste of what it's like and I have not, so I really want to beat Cortland."

The Hawks last played on Wednesday, April 11, losing the first game against Western Connecticut State University by a score of 6-5 before the second game was called early due to darkness and ended in a 2-2 tie.

SUNY New Paltz went into the final inning of the second game down 2-0. Junior catcher Madison Rappold and junior second baseman Shannon Fee led off the inning with back-to-back singles to put the tying runs on base. One out later, sophomore infielder Megan Blair lined a single up the middle to make it a 2-1 game and freshman utility player Ashley Puig followed with a base hit to right field to tie the game.

It was the team's first set of games since March 31 when it split its series against Buffalo State.

"After not playing for 11 days it was really important that we saw some lives at-bats and got some gameplay," Trudden said. "This is a big weekend for us in conference so it was really important for us to play yesterday's games. We didn't have the best day against Western Connecticut, but we're using that as a learning experience and we're going to bring all our fire into this weekend and do our best against Cortland and Oswego."

The Hawks' double-header against the Lakers was moved up to 2:30 p.m. Friday at Mary Gray Deanne Field. SUNY New Paltz is then scheduled to take on the Red Dragons Saturday starting at 12 p.m. To follow live, like @newpaltzhawks on Facebook and for highlights, follow @nphawks on Twitter, and for more recaps, photos, videos and more also follow @newpaltzhawks on Instagram.