Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

SALISBURY, Md. – The State University of New York at New Paltz softball team split with Lynchburg College in its opening games of the 2016 season on Friday afternoon at the Henry Parker Complex as a part of the Sea Gull Classic hosted by Salisbury University, falling, 10-0, to the Hornets in five innings in game one before prevailing, 7-2, in the nightcap.
 
New Paltz moves to 1-1 overall with the results and takes on host Salisbury, which is currently ranked at No. 11 in NCAA Division III, tomorrow in a 10 a.m. doubleheader. Lynchburg moves to 4-4 with the results and next faces Capital University tomorrow in a 10 a.m. doubleheader.
 
Game 1: Lynchburg 10, New Paltz 0 (5 inn.)
 
Lynchburg held New Paltz to just one hit in game one and scored 10 runs off 11 hits and three Hawk errors to post a 10-0 victory in five innings.
 
The Hornets got on the board in the bottom of the first with an RBI single to left field by freshman first baseman Mackenzie Chitwood, and two batters later, Chitwood came around to score on an error to make it a 2-0 game. Lynchburg scored two runs in the second, four runs in the third and two runs in the fourth to provide the final margin of victory.
 
Sophomore left fielder Julia Perhacs (Robbinsville, N.J./Robbinsville) accounted for the Hawks' lone hit of the game, while sophomore center fielder Skylar Dickens went 3-for-3 to lead the Hornets. Junior third baseman Kayla St. John and senior left fielder Danielle Powell each batted 2-for-3 with a double and a home run. St. John finished with four RBI, while Powell drove in three runs.
 
Senior pitcher Katie Rutcofsky (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy) shouldered the loss in the circle for the Hawks, yielding seven runs (five earned) off seven hits, three walks and a hit by pitch, while sophomore pitcher Conner English registered the win for the Hornets, allowing just one hit while striking out five.
 
Game 2: New Paltz 7, Lynchburg 2
 
New Paltz bounced back in game two, receiving eight hits from seven batters in a 7-2 victory over Lynchburg.
 
After a scoreless first, freshman shortstop Taylor LaFrance (New Windsor, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) put New Paltz on the board for the first time all afternoon, ripping a bases-clearing, three-run double to right center to stake the Hawks to a 3-0 lead.
 
New Paltz put the momentum squarely in its favor after a four-run third. Perhacs singled up the middle to lead off the inning before junior center fielder Fallon Spriggs (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston) singled to right to put runners on first and second. The two then executed a double steal before junior designated player Nicole DeCosta (Stormville, N.Y./John Jay-East Fishkill) worked a walk to load the bases. Sophomore right fielder Danielle Bruno (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) plated Perhacs with an RBI single to left, and after a pitching change, sophomore first baseman Lauren Cappello (New City, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) drove in Spriggs with a single down the right-field line. Freshman second baseman Shannon Fee (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Earl L. Vandermeulen) capped off the rally with a two-run single down the right-field line, giving New Paltz a commanding 7-0 lead.
 
Lynchburg cut the deficit in the sixth, with freshman first baseman Brittany Coffey driving in a run off a sacrifice fly before sophomore second baseman Leslie Bourgeois pushed across a run with a single up the middle. In their final chance to extend the game, the Hornets grounded out and flied out in the seventh before an error kept the inning alive. The Hawks then induced a pop-up to second base to end the game.
 
Bruno keyed the Hawk attack, as she went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. LaFrance drove in three runs in her first collegiate at-bat, while her fellow classmate, Fee, posted two RBI. Bourgeois had the lone multi-hit game from Lynchburg, going 2-for-3 with an RBI.
 
Junior pitcher Taylor Corwin (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) finished with a complete-game victory, yielding two runs off six hits and a hit by pitch while striking out one. Sophomore pitcher Kirsten Copley took the loss for Lynchburg, scattering five hits and permitting seven runs (four earned) in two innings of duty.