NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz softball team will travel to Schenectady, NY to take on Union College in a doubleheader on Wednesday, April 23 at 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
RECORDS: New Paltz enters Wednesday's doubleheader with a 9-16, 6-7 SUNYAC record... Union College is 15-9, 7-1 in the Liberty League.
SCOUTING THE HAWKS (9-16, 6-7 SUNYAC): New Paltz lost a pair of one-run games, 2-1 and 5-4, to conference competitor SUNY Potsdam on Saturday, April 19… In the first game, sophomore pitcher
Katie Rutcofsky added a double that brought home junior
Juliette Verso for the Hawks' lone run… Rutcofsky unfortunately suffered the loss for the Hawks on the mound…In game two, junior
Noelle Grande doubled home junior
Shayna Burgess and Rutcofsky and then scored off the play following a Potsdam mistake to draw the Hawks close in a game that Potsdam won in its final at bal… Senior pitcher
Amber Carozza took the tough fought loss for the Hawks,
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS: Junior Juliette Verso (.409), Burgess (.400), and Grande (.400) rank fourth, fifth, and sixth in the SUNYAC in batting average, while Burgess is tops on the team and fifth in the conference in slugging percentage (.640)… Burgess and Grande have been strong on the base paths, with eight and seven stolen bases… Rutcofsky has anchored the Hawks' pitching staff this year with a 2.74 ERA and 38 strikeouts.
TEAM STATISTICS: New Paltz ranks fifth in the SUNYAC in batting average (.292), and the Hawks have also hit for power with a .383 slugging percentage… New Paltz has also been strong defensively with a .950 fielding percentage.
SCOUTING THE DUTCHWOMEN (15-9, 7-1 Liberty League): On Saturday, April 19 Union split a doubleheader with the University of Rochester, losing 8-1 and winning 8-3… Senior catcher Aimee Palleschi slugged a homerun in the bottom of the sixth to give the Dutchwomen their only run in game one… In game two, junior outfielder Camille Corbin brought Union back to life by registering a three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth… Junior Allyson Staats recorded her seventh win after pitching all seven innings for the Dutchwomen.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS: Corbin leads the team and ranks sixth in the Liberty League with a .387 batting average, while also earning a .742 slugging percentage, which ranks first... Staats and Corbin lead the league in RBIs with 26 and 25, respectively, while Corbin also leads the conference with five homeruns and 46 total bases…Staats leads the pitching staff with a 2.77 ERA, while Senior Alyssa Wolejko has a 3.83 ERA.
TEAM STATISTICS: The Dutchwomen rule the Liberty League's batting statistics, leading the conference with a team batting average of .327, a slugging percentage of .476, 13 homeruns, and 130 RBIs…the pitching staff combines for a 3.24 ERA and 104 strike outs.
LAST MEETING: New Paltz lost a pair of one-run games to Union last season, 6-5 (12 innings) and 4-3, on April 24, 2013. GAME RECAP:APRIL 23, 2O13
WHAT'S NEXT: New Paltz will travel to Albany, NY to face SUNY Oneonta at 6 p.m. to finish a suspended game from April 11 before returning home on Friday to host SUNY Fredonia in a doubleheader at 3 and 5 p.m… Union will play Ithaca College in a road game doubleheader on April 24 starting at 3:30 p.m.
COACHES: New Paltz is led by head coach
Brittany Robinson in her first season while Union is headed
