Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

DANBURY, Conn. – The State University of New York at New Paltz softball team (11-17) split a non-conference doubleheader against Western Connecticut State University (18-8) Sunday afternoon, as the Hawks lost game one, 7-0, before rebounding with a 3-0 win in game two.

In game one, the Colonials pounded out eight hits, while the Hawk defense committed four errors. Western Connecticut plated five runs in the second, and two runs came across in the fifth to complete the final score.

Freshman pitcher Meg Brewer (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point) was handed the loss, giving up seven runs—six of which were earned—off eight hits while striking out two over six frames of duty. Magen Dargon pushed her record to 13-3 after going a full seven innings and striking out nine without allowing a run.

Offensively, Danielle Basciano paced the Colonials with a 2-for-3 outing from the plate that included two runs scored and a double. Three different Hawks registered one hit.

Freshman pitcher Erika Traina (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) threw a two-hit shutout in the nightcap, issuing just one walk while striking out three over seven innings of work. With the win, she moved to 1-1 for the year.

New Paltz's three runs all came in the sixth. After senior left fielder Kristen Schork (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley) singled to left center with one out, she was moved over to second by way of a sacrifice bunt. Freshman center fielder Shayna Burgess (Smithtown, N.Y./Commack) was hit by a pitch in the next at-bat, and with two away, junior second baseman Melissa Liotta (Brentwood, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) ripped a two-run double to right field. Liotta came home off a single by sophomore first baseman Chelsea Kull (Manorville, N.Y./Eastport South Manor), and that made the score 3-0 in favor of the Hawks. Traina was able to hold on in the home half of the seventh for the win.

Traina's counterpart, Stephanie Moss, fell to 4-5 after yielding three runs off five hits while striking out four over seven frames of duty.

No player from either team had more than one hit, but Liotta boasted two RBI off her two-run double.

New Paltz next squares off with The Sage Colleges in a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday, April 18, at 3:30 p.m.