Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
Virginia Beach, VA – The State University of New York at New Paltz softball team concluded its first weekend of play with two victories on Saturday afternoon, including a thrilling, extra inning win against SUNY Cobleskill that ended with a walk-off hit from Hawks senior pitcher Lauren Cappello.

With the pair of victories, the team improves their record to 3-1 and will next travel to Clermont, Florida to play 10 games over spring break, starting with a matchup against Manchester University on March 18.

Game One: New Paltz 12, Hunter 4 (5 Innings)
SUNY New Paltz began the day with a dominating 12-4 win over Hunter College, with all but one of the team's starters recording a hit. The Hawks wasted no time scoring, plating three runs in the first inning, two in the second and three in the third to take a commanding 8-0 lead.

The opposing Hawks cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the third, thanks to a solo home run from sophomore outfielder Colleen McCoy and a three-run blast off the bat of senior first baseman Stefanie Abolt.

SUNY New Paltz responded with four more runs in the top of the fourth, eventually forcing the game to end after five innings due to the mercy rule.

"It was great to come out hard in the first couple innings and get the runs we needed to keep the lead," Hawks coach Samantha Miller said. "We responded very well after they scored by coming back and finishing the game."

Hawks sophomore outfielder Julia DiSpigna led the team with four RBIs, going 3-for-3 with one double and one run scored. SUNY New Paltz junior shortstop Taylor LaFrance continued her strong start to the season with another three-hit performance, including one double, one stolen base and three runs scored. Hawks senior third baseman Alexa Mastando and SUNY New Paltz sophomore second baseman Caroline Alicandri also notched three hits in the win. Hawks senior outfielder Taylor Leonette went 2-for-2 with one triple and two RBIs, while SUNY New Paltz sophomore utility player Megan Blair also went 2-for-2.

Hawks freshman Emily Fox earned the first win of her collegiate career, surrendering four runs on six hits and striking out one. SUNY New Paltz sophomore Alyssa Pfitscher tossed three scoreless innings in relief, giving up just one hit while recording two strikeouts.

Game Two: New Paltz 5, Cobleskill 4 (8 Innings)
Alicandri got the Hawks on the board in the first inning, driving in LaFrance with a RBI single. The game remained 1-0 until the fifth inning, when Cobleskill plated two runs to take the lead.

SUNY New Paltz junior second baseman Shannon Fee led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a double, later advancing to third on a single from Leonette. Cappello tied the game with a RBI groundout to drive in Fee, and Mastando gave the Hawks a 3-2 lead with a RBI single to bring home Leonette.

Cappello, who came in relief to start the sixth inning, looked to close out the game in the seventh. But with two outs and a runner on second, Fighting Tigers freshman pitcher Rachel Hall drove in the game-tying run with a RBI single. SUNY New Paltz failed to score in the bottom half of the inning, sending the match to extras.

Cobleskill junior shortstop Nicole Flint was placed on second to begin the eighth inning due to the international tie-breaker rule. With two outs, Fighting Tigers sophomore outfielder Brianna Murphy drove home Flint to give Cobleskill a 4-3 lead.

In the bottom half of the inning, Fee was placed on second and she advanced to third on a single from Hawks freshman outfielder Katie Conrad. Leonette reached base on a dropped third strike to load the bases for Cappello. She redeemed the two runs she gave up to Cobleskill by driving home both Fee and Conrad with a RBI single to give SUNY New Paltz an exciting win over the Fighting Tigers.

"This was a great group effort," Miller said. "We answered the call when we went into extra innings. We had a lot of confidence in each one of our hitters and it played out perfectly for us, as we had the right person up in the right moment to pull away with the win. We put the bat on the ball very well when we needed to and it was huge to finish off the weekend with three wins."

Not only did she end the game with a clutch hit at the plate, Cappello also earned her first win of the season in the circle, pitching three innings and giving up two runs while punching out four. Pfitscher started the game for the Hawks, hurling five innings and surrendering two runs while striking out four.