Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz softball team split its State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC)-opening doubleheader with SUNY Plattsburgh on Friday at Cardinal Park, winning, 8-5, in game one before falling, 11-6, in the nightcap.
 
New Paltz moves to 8-8 overall (1-1 SUNYAC) with the results and next visits Brooklyn College on Wednesday, April 13, for a 5 p.m. doubleheader. Plattsburgh moves to 9-9 overall (1-1 SUNYAC) with the results and next hosts SUNY Oneonta on Sunday, April 10, for a 1 p.m. doubleheader.
 
Game 1: New Paltz 8, Plattsburgh 5
 
New Paltz jumped out to a 7-1 lead through two innings of play in game one and wound up holding on for an 8-5 victory.
 
In the top of the first, senior pitcher Katie Rutcofsky (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy) drew a bases-loaded walk to put the Hawks on the board, and during the Hawks' next at-bat, junior designated player Nicole DeCosta (Stormville, N.Y./John Jay-East Fishkill) drove in two more runs with a double down the left-field line. Plattsburgh then plated a run in the home half of the first with a sacrifice fly with one out to cut the deficit to two.
 
In the second, sophomore third baseman Alexa Mastando (Miller Place, N.Y./Rocky Point) came home following an errant throw on a successful double steal to start New Paltz's four-run inning. Sophomore left fielder Julia Perhacs (Robbinsville, N.J./Robbinsville) pushed across another run with a double down the left-field line before DeCosta made it a 7-1 ballgame with a two-run home run to left center two batters later.
 
The Cardinals pulled within three in the bottom of the fifth with a three-run inning, but freshman second baseman Shannon Fee (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Earl L. Vandermeulen) came across in the top of the seventh off of an error to build an 8-4 margin for the visitors. Finally, in the home half of the seventh, sophomore right fielder Amanda Tantillo blasted a solo home run, but the Cardinals were unable to muster any more runs from that point forward, as New Paltz emerged with the win.
 
DeCosta stole the show in game one, falling a triple short of the cycle with a 3-for-3 performance that included four RBI, a run scored, a double and a home run. For Plattsburgh, sophomore center fielder Dominique Zummo hit 3-for-4 with two RBI and a double.
 
Rutcofsky earned the win in the circle for New Paltz, giving up five runs off nine hits and a hit by pitch while striking out seven. Sophomore pitcher Katie Pitkin shouldered the loss for Plattsburgh, yielding six runs (four earned) off five hits and two walks while striking out two.
 
Game 2: Plattsburgh 11, New Paltz 6
 
In game two, Plattsburgh was the one to jump out to an early lead, constructing a 6-1 advantage after the first inning that set the tone for the game from that point forward.
 
After sophomore first baseman Lauren Cappello (New City, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) plated a run off a sacrifice bunt in the top of the first, the Cardinals erupted for six runs in the home half of the frame. From that point forward, Plattsburgh had an answer for every Hawk counter. A fielder's choice RBI by DeCosta and a sacrifice fly by Fee in the third cut the deficit in half, but Plattsburgh swelled the lead back to five with a two-run single in the bottom of the inning.
 
In the fourth, freshman shortstop Taylor LaFrance (New Windsor, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) drove in a run with a base hit to right field, but sophomore catcher Jackie Decker answered with a solo home run in the bottom of the inning. While New Paltz scored twice in the fifth to pull within three, Plattsburgh scored twice in the sixth to make it a five-run game yet again, which became the final margin after the Cardinals got out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the seventh.
 
LaFrance went 2-for-3 with a run scored, an RBI and a stolen base to lead the Hawk attack, while Tantillo, Zummo, freshman third baseman Amy Glashoff and Decker all notched multiple hits for Plattsburgh.
 
Junior pitcher Taylor Corwin (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) was charged with the loss for New Paltz, while Pitkin earned the win for Plattsburgh, her second decision of the afternoon. Senior pitcher Morgan Anderson was credited with the save for the Cardinals in two-thirds of an inning pitched.