New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz softball team split its State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) series against visiting Plattsburgh State Tuesday, winning game-one, 6-4 and dropping game-two, 9-3.

"In the first game we hit really well and we saw the same pitcher in the second game and we didn't make adjustments," said Hawks coach Krysti Maronski. "She threw a little bit more off-speed. I thought we stung some balls well, but we didn't get the hits in with runners on base when we needed them to."
SUNY New Paltz (21-8 overall, 9-5 SUNYAC) took its momentum from a productive offensive afternoon Monday in a sweep over SUNY Potsdam and tallied 11 hits in game-one. Although the Cardinals (12-16, 6-8) got out to an early 1-0 lead after a first-inning home run, the Hawks rallied right back in the bottom half.
 
Shannon Fee ignited the offense after a strong lead-off at-bat. Fighting off a couple pitches, the senior earned a walk on a 3-2 count to get on with no outs. Meagan Blair then took four-straight balls to get on as well. Kelsey Trudden followed with a nicely placed sacrifice bunt to advance both runners, setting the table for Julia DiSpigna.
 
DiSpigna turned on a pitch on a 1-2 count and struck a deep ball into the left center gap for a two RBI double, putting her team ahead. SUNY New Paltz never lost the lead from then on, as it added more before the end of the third. After Katie Quagliana reached on a base hit, Nina Simms continued her hot streak at the plate and belted a two RBI double to bring the Hawks' lead to 4-1.
 
Celia Santini tacked on one more for SUNY New Paltz before the inning was over, hitting a blooper that landed just out the reach of the pitcher, who tried to make a play on the ball by flicking a throw with her glove to first, which sailed overhead. Santini was safe on the play and Simms was brought home on the error.
 
Plattsburgh cut into the lead in the top of the fifth, scoring two in the inning. Quagliana, who earned the game-one start, limited the damage and stranded runners on first and second to keep the Hawks' lead at 5-3. She then helped her own cause in the bottom of the inning, calmly knocking a two-out RBI base hit to score Blair from third.
 
The Cardinals trimmed the deficit once more in the sixth, adding another run, but that's all the offense they produced in the game. Quagliana closed the win with a 1-2-3 inning in the seventh. Game-two wasn't the best outing for SUNY New Paltz. The score was tied at one for most of the way until the Cardinals nearly piled on four-quick scores in the third inning. With the bases loaded Plattsburgh's Haleigh Agans belted a grand slam, which would have given her team a 5-1 cushion, but the at-bat was taken away because her re-entry was not reported. In turn it was an automatic out, and Emily Fox made quick work of the next batter, earning a strikeout to end the inning and holding the score at ones.
 
The Hawks didn't take advantage of the second opportunity, however, as the Cardinals came back to ultimately snatch away the lead. But first DiSpigna pushed SUNY New Paltz out in front, 2-1, in the bottom of the fourth with a sacrifice groundout to bring Fee home. The lead was short-lived, however, as the game got away from the Hawks in the sixth.
 
With one-out already in the books in the top of the sixth, the Cardinals Sydney Adolfo reached first safely after an overthrow on a routine ground ball. Plattsburgh State took advantage of the miscue with runners advancing into scoring position and followed up with a two RBI base hit, while piling on three more by inning's end to open up the game after creating a 6-2 cushion.
 
"They got momentum from the error and just kept going on in," Maronski said. "They were stringing hits all on two outs. I went out and tried to settle them down. You just have to let it go and move on to the next play. It's a mental game at that point. Pick up some rocks, throw some dirt, tell yourself a different saying to get yourself out of that place and move on and we kind of let it steam roll on instead of forgetting it."
 
The Cardinals continued hitting the ball hard and posted three more runs in the top of the seventh to extend its lead to 9-2. Although the Hawks sliced into the lead, the hole was just too big to overcome, and ultimately they took just their fifth loss in conference play. "We need to play our game," Maronksi said. "We need to go out there one pitch at a time and get ahead in our counts pitching. Today we just walked way too many people on base with two outs. We need to do a better job on that end and play good defense. When we're given outs, get the outs and keep our energy up." 

Simms once again led SUNY New Paltz at the plate, hitting 5-for-7 with a run, two RBIs and a walk. Quagliana followed offensively, going 3-for-7 with two runs and an RBI, while DiSpigna went 3-for-6 with three RBIs and a run on the day.
 
The series split still leaves the Hawks in the fourth spot in the SUNYAC standings, but they have a crucial weekend ahead against Buffalo State and Fredonia, which are both fighting for a place in the conference playoffs.
 
SUNY New Paltz is set to take on the Bengals on the road Friday for a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. and then will face Fredonia State for a two-game series Saturday, starting at noon.

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