Coming off a dominant performance against Purchase College Wednesday at Mary Gray Deanne Field, the State University of New York at New Paltz softball team is ready to re-enter conference play Saturday against Catskill Cup rival SUNY Oneonta (7-14-1 overall, 2-4 SUNYAC).

The Hawks (18-7, 5-3) haven't lost a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) series yet this season, but is coming off a pair of splits against SUNY Cortland and Oswego State, two playoff teams from a year ago. They hope to buck that trend and earn just their second conference sweep of the year – the first coming at home against The College at Brockport March 30. 
Last year SUNY New Paltz dropped both games against the Red Dragons, losing a heart-breaking eight-inning contest, 2-1 after accumulating just six hits in the game and were then run-ruled in five-innings, losing 12-2.

The Hawks are looking for some redemption Saturday.

"Last year in the series against Oneonta I remember them being a really good hitting team," said SUNY New Paltz sophomore pitcher Emily Fox. "I don't know if we played our best defense against them. I think we can definitely come out stronger, definitely attack the ball at the plate early on so that we can get ahead and just overall play with more energy, and be more excited to take two games from them."

The only SUNYAC games SUNY Oneonta has won this season came against defending SUNYAC Champions SUNY Geneseo and Oswego State. The Red Dragons haven't won a series yet, dropping games against the Knights and Lakers, while getting swept by the rival Red Dragons.

SUNY Oneonta's last game came against Hamilton College April 10, only playing one of two games of the scheduled double-header, and losing, 14-13. The Red Dragons have struggled as of late, losing six of seven games and are currently on a two-game losing skid.

Dana Del Genio leads SUNY Oneonta at the plate, batting .444 with a team-best 21 runs, 36 hits, including 12 extra-base hits, and 15 RBI's. As a team, the Red Dragons average about .291 at the plate, but opponents have hit .302 against them. Their best arm is Alyssa Bluethgen, as she leads the team with a 4-7 record with a 4.61 ERA, nine complete games and 42 strikeouts in 71.1 inning's pitched. SUNY New Paltz, meanwhile, has gotten great production from its rotation. Katie Quagliana and Fox has gotten the majority of starts and combine for a 16-5 record. They, along with Alyssa Pfitscher (22.2 innings pitched, 3.97 ERA, 13 strikeouts) and Julia Mastrup combine for a 2.71 ERA, giving up 147 hits and allowed just 67 runs against.

"I've definitely grown from the pitcher that I was last year," Fox said. "I think I have more confidence because I know the people behind me are backing me up. I have a great team and everything we do we have done together. Coach has been great in fostering that environment for us, so overall I think I am just happier and we're more confident as a team."

Leading into the Hawks' non-conference matchup against the Panthers, they struggled at the plate against SUNY Cortland and Oswego State, totaling just 20 hits combined in the four games. They gained some confidence with Wednesday's victories, however, stringing together 23 hits in just 10 innings played. SUNY New Paltz hopes to take that momentum into Saturday, continuing to be calm and patient at the plate.

"We definitely want to take both games from them on Saturday," Fox said. "Winning the series would put us in a really good place in the conference and also just boost our confidence moving on to play Buff State and Fredonia later on. I think we could definitely win both games if we play like we have been playing, getting hits and keeping our defense strong. Our pitching has been great over the past few games, so I think if we keep our energy up and be the team we know we can be, we can beat them."

The Hawks are set to face the Red Dragons at Hudson Valley Community College Saturday starting at 11 a.m. 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.