Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

NEWBURGH, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz softball team (17-12) claimed a pair of non-conference games on Wednesday afternoon at the MSMC Softball Field, sweeping past Mount Saint Mary College (14-14). The Hawks won game one, 9-1, before prevailing by a 7-1 count in the nightcap.

Game one saw both teams combine for 13 errors and five unearned runs, but the Hawks won by a lopsided margin due largely to the fact that Mount Saint Mary left 14 runners on base.

New Paltz opened scoring in the first, as sophomore right fielder Marissa Monaco (Bohemia, N.Y./Connetquot) drove in a run on a fielder's choice play. The Hawks widened the gap in the third, which started with a double by sophomore catcher/center fielder Shayna Burgess (Smithtown, N.Y./Commack) to lead off the inning. After the Blue Knights recorded the inning's first out in the next at-bat, senior shortstop Melissa Liotta (Brentwood, N.Y./St. John the Baptist) drove in Burgess with a double to left center. Monaco pushed across her second run of the game during the Hawks' ensuing at-bat, scoring Liotta. The Knights registered the second out before New Paltz struck twice more. Sophomore third baseman/designated player Meg Brewer (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point) doubled to center field to drive in Monaco, while Brewer scored the final run of the frame by advancing home on an error by the pitcher.

Mount Saint Mary scored its lone run of the first tilt in the fourth, with shortstop Ashley Schirripa pushing across a run on a sacrifice fly. New Paltz tacked one more run on to its lead in the fifth, with Monaco plating junior second baseman Emily Frawley (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains), and it went on to score three runs in the seventh to provide the margin of victory.

Several Hawks contributed to the win in game one, with Brewer's 4-for-4 outing leading the way. She fell a home run shy of the cycle, notching a pair of singles, a double and a triple while scoring twice and driving in two runs. Monaco registered a game-high three RBI and added one run scored in a 2-for-4 performance at the dish.  Designated player Ashley Peel, third baseman Danielle Soto and left fielder Kimberly Boice all batted 2-for-4 for Mount Saint Mary.

Senior pitcher Amber Carozza (Milton, N.Y./Marlboro) earned the win, giving up one unearned run on eight hits while striking out seven. Pitcher Amanda Barrese shouldered the loss for the Knights, yielding six runs, three of which were earned, on nine hits in five innings of duty.

New Paltz made the most of its chances in game two, scoring seven runs on just nine hits.

Monaco and junior first baseman Chelsea Kull (Manorville, N.Y./Eastport South Manor) initiated scoring in the first inning, with each boasting an RBI double. Junior third baseman Melissa Kump (Glendale, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) pushed across a run in the fourth, while Brewer made it a 4-0 game later on in the frame by scoring on an error by the shortstop.

Mount Saint Mary scored its first earned run of the day in the fourth, with Peel driving in a run on a fielder's choice. New Paltz countered, though, swelling its lead back to four with a run in the fifth off another RBI double by Monaco. The Hawks pushed across two insurance runs in the sixth, as Liotta ripped an RBI double down the left-field line and Monaco blasted a sacrifice fly to right field. That proved to be the last of the scoring, as the game ended with a 7-1 final.

Monaco keyed New Paltz's offensive efforts in the nightcap, going 2-for-2 with three RBI, two runs scored and two doubles. Three different Knight players accounted for Mount Saint Mary's three hits.

Sophomore pitcher Erika Traina (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) allowed one run on three hits, a walk and a hit by pitch in the winning effort, while Mount Saint Mary's starting pitcher, Caitlin Maynes, was tagged with the loss after giving up seven runs, four of which were earned, on nine hits and two walks. Pitcher Victoria Goldbach tossed an inning of hitless and scoreless relief.

New Paltz faces a tough test on Friday, April 19, as it visits SUNY Cortland at 3 p.m. for a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) doubleheader.