Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz softball team saw its bats come alive in a 5-4 and 9-0 doubleheader sweep over SUNY Plattsburgh on Friday afternoon in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action.
 
The Hawks took the opener 5-4, and used a big offensive four-run fourth inning to erase a 3-1 deficit. In the nightcap, there was little in doubt after New Paltz surged ahead 9-0 after two innings and earned the win in five innings. In the two games, the Hawks banged out 20 hits, 10 in each game. Sophomore Katie Rutcofsky (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy) earned the victory in game one, improving to 5-6 on the season. In the nightcap, senior Amber Carozza (Milton, N.Y./Marlboro), pitched a superb three-hit shutout in five innings and improved to 3-5 on the season.
 
With the impressive doubleheader sweep, New Paltz improves to 9-14, 6-5 in the SUNYAC. Plattsburgh drops to 5-15, 3-8 SUNYAC. The Hawks next head to SUNY Potsdam for a Saturday doubleheader, while Plattsburgh hosts SUNY Oneonta in doubleheader action on Saturday.
 
Game One
The Hawks jumped ahead 1-0 after the first inning, but Plattsburgh took a 3-1 lead in the third inning, manufacturing all of its runs on four singles and a double. Undaunted by the deficit, the Hawks scored four times in the top of the fourth to secure a 5-3 lead. Rutcofsky helped her own cause with a two RBI double to left center. The game-winning runs were driven home off a double to center field by junior Alex Verso (Commack, N.Y./Commack), which plated Rutcofsky and Carozza, who had singled previously to Verso's at bat.
 
Rutcofsky allowed a single run in the bottom of the fifth inning, but settled down nicely in the final two frames, allowing just one hit and facing seven batters.
 
Game Two
The Hawks left little to doubt in the second game, scoring four runs in the first and five in the second, cruising to a 9-0 victory in five innings. While Carozza was pitching a gem, her offense supplied more than enough runs. Junior Meg Brewer (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point) drove in a pair of runs in the opening frame with a big double down the left field line. Senior Chelsea Kull (Manorville, N.Y./Eastport South Manor) and sophomore Jordan Fiore (Mount Sinai, N.Y./Mount Sinai) each had an RBI in the inning.
 
Brewer, Kull, Fiore kept their bats smoking in the second inning, each driving home a run in an inning that saw New Paltz send nine batters to the plate. Junior Shayna Burgess (Smithtown, N.Y./Commack) and junior Juliette Verso (Commack, N.Y./Commack) each contributed with an RBI as the Hawks forced Plattsburgh to make a quick pitching change in the inning.