Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 New Paltz, NY – Pitching in her first State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) game against defending conference champion SUNY Geneseo, State University of New York at New Paltz freshman pitcher Katie Quagliana was admittedly nervous Friday stepping into the circle. However, those nerves never showed one once during her outing, as the Buffalo, NY native put up her first career no-hitter to lead the Hawks (9-4 overall, 1-1 SUNYAC) to a 2-0 win over the Knights (10-4 overall, 1-1 SUNYAC) in game one of their double-header at Mary Gray Deane Field.

"I felt a little nervous actually," Quagliana said. "A little more on the nervous side today, but I calmed myself down as the innings went by and it felt really good to throw a no-hitter. The pitches that we were working were change up and curve ball." 
Quagliana got her off-seed pitches going early which confused visiting Geneseo, which totaled just five hits combined in the two games Friday. Quagliana ended up with her third complete game shutout of the season in the win, while also helping her own cause with a run scored.

"I didn't realize it was a no-hitter until the sixth inning, but she was really just keeping them off balance," said Hawks coach Krysti Maronski. "We were really utilizing her off-speed and working the corners and that was the difference for her being able to keep them guessing and not know what was coming."

Backed by another gem by Quagliana, SUNY New Paltz out-played the Knights in game one with the Hawks totaling seven hits in the contest and scoring runs in the second and fourth innings.

Julia DiSpigna picked up both RBI's in the victory, coming up clutch in the bottom of the second inning with a sacrifice fly to right field to score Quagliana from third, who got on with a leadoff walk. Meagan Blair kept SUNY New Paltz's threat alive following DiSpigna's sac fly, as she earned a base hit after hustling out a grounder, but the Knights limited the damage to just one.

Kelsey Trudden started the scoring run in the fourth, as she led off with a hard hit through the third base side to get things rolling for the Hawks. Blair then stepped back up to the plate and laid down a beautifully placed bunt right in front of the first base line, forcing an errant throw to earn a spot safely at first, while moving Trudden over to third. DiSpigna got the job done again, as she followed with an RBI single over to shallow left field to plate Trudden to give her team the, 2-0 lead.

SUNY New Paltz's scoring halted there, however, as SUNY Geneseo tallied three-straight outs on a fielder's choice, strikeout and groundout to strand two runners and keep the deficit at two.
That was all Quagliana and the Hawks defense needed though to close out the win. Quagliana walked just two batters, while striking out one – on a nasty change up that got the batter swinging – to tally her sixth win of the year. Quagliana was all smiles after recording the K.

"Well, I threw a change up and that is one of the hardest pitches to throw for a strike, so I just felt really good about that," she said. "It just felt really good, because it took me a long time for me to get the change up to work, so just knowing that I can throw it in a high pressure situation felt really good."

SUNY New Paltz couldn't complete the series sweep over the Knights despite matching the opposition with five hits in game two. Three fielding errors proved costly, as two of four runs went unearned for Emily Fox, who earned the start in the second contest of the day.

"I think we needed to eliminate some of the errors and keep our bats going," Quagliana said. "I think the second game we had a few more errors than we had in the first game and our bats were a little slow, but moving forward we know what to do."

In the top of the second inning, Fox gave up two-straight walks resulting in a mound visit by Maronski. An error on the following at-bat loaded the bases with no outs, but Fox worked her way through and limited the damage to just two runs.

A sacrifice ground out by Taylor Riccardi scored a run from third with no outs, but another error on the following at-bat platted another runner to give Geneseo at 2-0 lead. Fox registered the second out on a swinging strikeout and after giving up another walk, she got out of the inning forcing a fly out to right field.
  "I thought Emily did a great job today. She kept them at bay," Maronski said. "They didn't really hit the ball, but she knows and we know we have to limit the lead-off walks. Walks are always going to come back and score and that is what happened in those two innings."

SUNY New Paltz threatened in the bottom of the inning, as Blair blasted a double that looked destined to reach over the wall, but hit right at the centerfield fence to lead off the inning. However, the Hawks couldn't capitalize with a runner in scoring position and was blanked in the inning.

Danni Napoli opened up the top of the third with a single to left and she was later brought home after another error in right field on a fly ball. Ashlyn Kersch capped off the Knights scoring with an RBI single in the inning to plate Hannah Elmer. Fox again limited the damage, as she got the next batter swinging for another K and closed out the inning with a fly out to right.

SUNY New Paltz left four runners on base in the last four innings, unable to record the clutch hit to cement a comeback and ultimately suffered just its fourth loss of the season after the, 4-0 defeat.

Kersch received the win in a complete game shutout, giving up five hits and one walk with seven strikeotus. Fox took the loss, allowing five hits, five walks with eight strikeouts.

"In the second game their pitcher did a good job. She did a really good job of mixing up speeds and I think we were just kind of guessing at the plate," Maronski said. "Credit to her that was a good job by her, but moving forward we need to have a better plan in that second game. But in the first game we were hitting the ball hard. They were making some good plays, so credit to them. We just couldn't get the timely hit to get more runs."

The Hawks are back on Mary Gray Deane Field Saturday, taking on The College at Brockport for a double-header beginning at noon.To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks, Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.