Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

New Paltz, NY - The State University of New York at New Paltz softball team dropped both games of a doubleheader against Ramapo College Wednesday in its first home games of the 2019 season. The losses bring the Hawks season record to 9-4 on the year.

Ramapo struck first in the beginning frame, with an RBI single from Carli Egan putting the Roadrunners up early. 

Another three innings went by without any offense, but that changed in the bottom of the fourth, when Hawks sophomore Ashley Puig drove in two runners with an RBI double, put SUNY New Paltz up 2-1. Puig has been red hot to start the season, entering the matchup hitting .370 with eight RBI in 10 games.

"She's taken a good approach at the plate, waiting on her pitches and not missing," said Hawks coach Kyrsti Maronski of Puig. "She's making good, hard contact and is being a tough out."

The Hawks lead didn't stand for long however, as Ramapo rallied in the sixth, tagging SUNY New Paltz reliever Emily Fox with five runs — four earned. The Roadrunners added an insurance run in the seventh, and closed out game one with a 7-2 victory.

Game two started similar to the first with Ramapo jumping ahead early. The Roadrunners hit freshman Katie Quagliana hard, driving in two runs in the first. Quagliana pitched just under seven innings total on the day.

"Katie battled really well on the mound," Maronski said. "They're a really good hitting team. They play in a really good conference, so I thought her battling and challenging them throughout showed a lot of progress." 

The Hawks quickly answered back, scoring two runs of their own on separate RBI base hits by Quagliana and Julia DiSpigna.

Once again, the response was a quick one by the Roadrunners, as they rallied for four runs in the third, taking a 6-2 lead.

As the sun was lost over the mountain in the top half of the sixth, the coaches and umpires came to an unanimous decision to call the second game, naming it another 7-2 victory for Ramapo. 

For the two games, the Roadrunners sent out sophomore Jessica Becchetti for the early game, and junior Kristen Ruggiero for the nightcap. The pair each delivered, both going the distance while allowing just two runs in the victories.

"They were just pounding the zone," Maronski said. "They got us to chase their pitches. We didn't do a good job in the box of hitting our pitches."

The early Ramapo leads seemed to drain the energy out of a usually excited Hawks squad, and Maronski noticed it as well, saying, "we came out a little bit flat today, and they took advantage of that." She continued, "We have to play every game one inning at a time and like it's a 0-0 ballgame. Like it's the start of something new and fresh, and we just have to keep that constant throughout the game."

The Hawks will look to bounce back on Saturday, as they begin their State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) matchups in a doubleheader against SUNY Geneseo.

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