Box Score (Game 1)
Box Score (Game 2)

ONEONTA, N.Y. – Despite pounding out 17 hits across two games, the State University of New York at New Paltz softball team (11-13, 3-7 SUNYAC) fell twice to SUNY Oneonta (16-11, 7-3 SUNYAC) in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) doubleheader on Thursday afternoon at Red Dragon Field. Oneonta won game one, 11-6, before taking the nightcap by a 10-2 final in five innings.

The Hawks scored two runs in the top of the first in game one, but the Red Dragons answered right back with a pair of runs in the home half of the inning. Freshman second baseman/designated player Chelsea Kull's (Manorville, N.Y.) two-run double in the fourth gave New Paltz a 4-2 lead, but Oneonta scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth and four runs in the bottom of the sixth to break the game open. Junior designated player/second baseman Shelby Martin (New Paltz, N.Y.) uncorked a two-run homer in the top half of the seventh, and despite collecting three hits in the inning, New Paltz was unable to close the gap.

Senior pitcher Courtney Costello (Bayport, N.Y.) was shouldered with the loss, working 4 2/3 innings. She gave up six runs—five of which were earned—on six hits, walked one and struck out two. Sophomore pitcher/right fielder Gillian Davidoff (Oceanside, N.Y.) gave up five runs on five hits in two-thirds of an inning, while freshman pitcher Emily Collazo (East Meadow, N.Y.) surrendered just one hit, also in two-thirds of an inning.

Oneonta's Jessica Iuliano tossed a complete game, lasting the full seven innings. She yielded six runs on 12 hits and four walks and also struck out a game-high seven.

Senior center fielder/pitcher Jillian Gallagher (Buchanan, N.Y.) scored twice and went 2-for-4 at the plate, while Kull drove in two runs and scored one, batting 2-for-3. Junior third baseman Samantha Barra (Conklin, N.Y.) and junior catcher Jenna Curcio (Conklin, N.Y.) each went 2-for-3, while junior center fielder/left fielder Kristen Schork (Warwick, N.Y.) batted 2-for-4.

For Oneonta, four different players had a multi-hit game in the front half of the twinbill. Jillian Serraro led the way with five RBI and two runs scored, while Stacey Donald was plated twice.

The nightcap featured a strong defensive back-and-forth battle for the first four-and-a-half innings, but the Red Dragons scored eight runs in fifth. A Serraro three-run home run in the fifth pushed the Oneonta lead to eight, which halted the game due to the eight-run rule.

Gallagher's speed led up to a New Paltz run in the top of the first off an RBI groundout. The Red Dragons bounced back, however, using back-to-back RBI doubles in the home half of the first to go up, 2-1. Gallagher scored again in the third to knot the tally at 3-all, touching home off a Barra single.

Oneonta piled on the offense in the fifth, taking advantage of wild pitches and walks while producing timely hits.

Gallagher shouldered the loss in the circle for New Paltz, going 4 2/3 innings. She gave up nine runs—four of which were earned—off eight hits, five walks and a hit by pitch. Gallagher tied for the game-high in strikeouts with two.

Her counterpart, Jessica Bartalsky, pitched a complete game, lasting five innings. She gave up two runs off five hits and four walks in addition to her two strikeouts.

Gallagher went 1-for-1 and scored twice for the Hawks in game two, while Katie Hackenburg keyed the Red Dragon attack by going 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Notably, Serraro pushed her RBI total on the day to eight with a three-RBI performance in the nightcap.

New Paltz looks to get back in the win column tomorrow afternoon when it travels to Fredonia, N.Y., to take on SUNY Fredonia at noon in a SUNYAC doubleheader.