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Box Score 2
GENESEO, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz softball team put together yet another doubleheader split to remain in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) playoff contention, as the Hawks defeated SUNY Geneseo, 9-2, in game one before falling, 10-3, in the nightcap in SUNYAC action on Saturday afternoon at Vic Raschi Field.
New Paltz moves to 15-14 overall (6-6 SUNYAC) with the results and next faces SUNY Potsdam in a neutral-site SUNYAC doubleheader on Wednesday, April 27, at 4 p.m. The twinbill will occur at the Hopkins Softball Complex in Liverpool, N.Y. Geneseo moves to 18-14 overall (7-5 SUNYAC) with the results and next visits The College at Brockport for a 3 p.m. doubleheader on Tuesday, April 26.
Game 1: New Paltz 9, Geneseo 2
New Paltz scored multiple runs in three different innings, and yet another virtuoso performance from senior pitcher
Katie Rutcofsky (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy) helped lead the team to victory in game one.
The Hawks opened scoring in the second, as freshman shortstop
Taylor LaFrance (New Windsor, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) drove in a run before senior catcher
Jordan Fiore (Mount Sinai, N.Y./Mount Sinai) drew a bases-loaded walk. After Geneseo recorded an out, sophomore right fielder
Danielle Bruno (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) scored on an error before junior center fielder
Fallon Spriggs (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston) capped off the team's surge with a bases-loaded walk to hand New Paltz an early 4-0 lead.
Geneseo cut the margin in half with two runs in the fourth, but the Hawks swelled the advantage up to 7-2 thanks to a three-run fifth, as Bruno drove in a run with a double to right center before Fiore plated two runs. New Paltz added insurance in the seventh with RBI from Fiore and sophomore left fielder
Julia Perhacs (Robbinsville, N.J./Robbinsville).
Fiore enjoyed a strong offensive performance for New Paltz, going 2-for-3 with four RBI, a double and a stolen base, while Rutcofsky helped her cause by going 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Three different Geneseo student-athletes registered a hit.
Rutcofsky earned the win in the circle for New Paltz, yielding two runs (one earned) off three hits and three walks while striking out three. Senior pitcher Mikayla Moore shouldered the loss for the Knights, giving up nine runs (four earned) off nine hits and six walks while striking out one.
Game 2: Geneseo 10, New Paltz 3
Geneseo bounced back in game two by exploding for 14 hits, with the Knights using a seven-run fifth to claim the victory.
The Knights scored two runs in the third before junior
Kiersten Carlomagno (Commack, N.Y./Commack) trimmed the gap by scoring on a wild pitch in the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, Geneseo swelled the lead back to two with an RBI single by junior right fielder Marisa Motisi, but Perhacs tied the score at 3-all with a two-run home run in the top of the fifth. The Knights responded with seven runs off six hits in the home half of the fifth, using that surge to salvage the doubleheader split.
Perhacs led the Hawks offensively by going 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run scored, while five different Knights recorded multiple hits.
Freshman pitcher Taylor Moore earned the win in the circle for Geneseo, giving up just one hit in 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. New Paltz utilized three different pitchers in the loss.
