Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

SAUGERTIES, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz softball team belted seven home runs across two State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) games against SUNY Potsdam on Friday at Cantine Park, posting a doubleheader sweep. New Paltz won game one, 14-5, in six innings before prevailing, 9-8, in 10 innings in game two.

Two home run records were matched by the day's end. Junior center fielder/left fielder Fallon Spriggs (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston) upped her season home run total to five, equaling the program mark held by Michele Smith (1988) and Gina Marotta (1995). Junior designated player Nicole DeCosta (Stormville, N.Y./John Jay-East Fishkill) and Spriggs also matched the single-game program record in home runs (2), which was set by Karen Moynihan on April 24, 1989, against Hunter College. DeCosta, who finished with two home runs in game one and one home run in game two, is also believed to be the first Hawk to hit three homers on the same day, and she also tied the program's single-game RBI record of seven established by freshman shortstop Samantha Colca (Fair Lawn, N.J./Fair Lawn) back on March 19 against York (N.Y.) College.

New Paltz rises to 10-7 overall (3-1 SUNYAC) with the wins and takes on SUNY Plattsburgh in a SUNYAC doubleheader tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Cantine Field. Potsdam drops to 3-14 (0-6 SUNYAC) with the losses and faces SUNY Oneonta tomorrow in a 12 p.m. doubleheader.

New Paltz 14, Potsdam 5 (6 inn.)

A nine-run second inning that included a grand slam by DeCosta helped New Paltz cruise to a 14-5 victory in game one.

Potsdam got on the board first, as the first batter of the ballgame, sophomore shortstop Jordan Ott, homered to dead center field to give the Bears an early 1-0 lead. That lead did not last long, however, as freshman left fielder Julia Perhacs (Robbinsville, N.J./Robbinsville) led off the bottom of the first with a solo shot to center off a full count to tie the game.

New Paltz did most of its damage with the bases loaded in the home half of the second, with freshman right fielder Danielle Bruno (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) absorbing a bases-loaded hit by pitch before Perhacs and junior catcher Jordan Fiore (Mount Sinai, N.Y./Mount Sinai) each drove in a run by drawing a bases-loaded walk. Freshman first baseman Lauren Cappello (New City, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) and Spriggs each drove in a run with an RBI base knock before DeCosta broke the game open with a grand slam to left center. That gave the Hawks a commanding 10-1 lead they would not relinquish.

Potsdam did not go down without a fight, though, with freshman designated player Lauren Brace driving in a run on a groundout in the third before Potsdam scored three times in the fifth. Junior pitcher/left fielder Carina Chirinko pushed across a run with an RBI double to left, while junior catcher Katie Marsman roped a two-run homer to left center to pull the Bears within five at 10-5.

After a scoreless fifth for the Hawks, Spriggs plated Fiore with a one-out sacrifice fly to right in the sixth, and with two outs on the board, DeCosta ended the game with a three-run home run to center field.

All but two Hawks had a hit in game one, with DeCosta leading the way. DeCosta went 2-for-3 with seven RBI, three runs scored and two home runs. Spriggs batted 2-for-3 with two RBI and one run scored, while sophomore shortstop Kiersten Carlomagno (Commack, N.Y./Commack) went 2-for-3 with one run scored.

The Potsdam bats were paced by Chirinko, who went 3-for-3 with one RBI, one run scored and a double.

Senior pitcher Erika Traina (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) picked up the win in the circle for New Paltz, lasting a full six innings while throwing 113 pitches. She yielded five runs (three earned) off six hits and two walks while striking out a career-high seven batters. Chirinko was saddled with the loss, permitting seven runs off four walks, two hits and a hit by pitch in 1 1/3 innings of work, while freshman pitcher Meghan Dougherty yielded seven runs (three earned) off eight hits, one walk and a hit by pitch in 4 1/3 innings of relief.

New Paltz 9, Potsdam 8 (10 inn.)

Once again, it was junior pitcher Katie Rutcofsky (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy) who helped her own cause in a winning effort, as she pushed across the game-winning run in walk-off fashion with an RBI single to left center.

In a back-and-forth duel that saw six home runs between the two teams, it was the strong pitching and defense in clutch situations down the stretch that will serve as the lasting memory of this 2:45 marathon contest.

After Potsdam tied the score at 8-all with an Ott two-run home run, both teams went scoreless for four full innings. The ante was upped in the 10th inning, with the international tiebreaker rule coming into effect, which places a runner at second base to begin each half inning.

In the top of the 10th, Rutcofsky induced an infield pop-up for the first out of the frame before forcing the next batter to foul out to the catcher. That set the stage for what was her biggest strikeout of the day, as she struck out sophomore center fielder Lyndale Nephew on four pitches to strand the placed runner at second.

With victory in its sights, New Paltz put a runner on third with just one out after sophomore pinch hitter Megan Carbia (Tomkins Cove, N.Y./North Rockland) laid down a sacrifice bunt. Carlomagno ripped a hard-hit ball to the shortstop during the Hawks' next at-bat, but Ott fielded the ball cleanly, held Spriggs at third and opted not to risk a potentially erroneous throw to first. Carlomagno stole second as a result of the Bears' indifference, but Potsdam received a crucial game-saving play from its third baseman, freshman Chelsea Streeter, as freshman second baseman Jessica Lodato (Commack, N.Y./Commack) lined out to third. That set the stage for Rutcofsky, who already had a game-winning hit earlier this week against Oneonta. Rutcofsky swung at the first pitch she saw and drove a hard-hit ball into left center, scoring Spriggs in walk-off fashion.

New Paltz scored one run in the first and one run in the second before Potsdam plated five in the third, four of which came off a grand slam from Brace. The Hawks eventually took the lead in the fourth, as Carlomagno homered to left center to make it a 6-5 ballgame. The Bears tied it in the top of the fifth off an RBI groundout, but Spriggs gave New Paltz an 8-6 cushion in the home half of the inning with a two-run parabola over the left-field fence. Following an error, Ott made the Hawks pay in the top of the sixth, knotting the tally at 8-all with a two-run shot to right.

Senior right fielder Juliette Verso (Commack, N.Y./Commack) batted 3-for-3 with two runs scored and a triple to help key the Hawk attack, while Spriggs went 2-for-5 with three RBI, three runs scored and two home runs. DeCosta homered in her lone official at-bat of the game, drawing a pair of four-pitch walks.

Ott (2-for-4, two RBI, two runs scored, one home run) and junior second baseman Alexis Lerman (2-for-4, two runs scored, one double) ignited the Bear attack, though Brace made the most of her one hit, driving in four runs with her grand slam.

Rutcofsky earned the win in six innings of relief, yielding two runs (one earned) off one hit while striking out four. Freshman pitcher Jaime Hoskins was the hard-luck losing pitcher, as she lasted the full 9 2/3 innings in the circle for the Bears and threw 150 pitches total.