New Paltz, NY —The State University of New York at New Paltz softball team struggled offensively Saturday against visiting SUNY Cortland and although the Hawks produced a better outing than in their season opener against the Red Dragons it wasn't enough to get the win, as they fell, 5-1 in game one and 12-3 in game two.

The team showed improvement in the field from Wednesday's outing against Oneonta, as SUNY New Paltz, after totaling six errors against the Red Dragons, registered one against Cortland Saturday. 
 
"We talked about having a nothing to lose mentality," said Hawks coach Krysti Maronski. "The fear of making a mistake, I felt like we were playing very timid in the field. Like we didn't want the balls hit to us or we were afraid to make those mistakes, but in reality we just have to say, 'Hey, this ball is coming to me. This is what I'm doing with that and get rid of the ball and make the outs.' We definitely emphasized that after the other day."
 
Freshman Lindsay Roman earned the game one start for the Hawks (1-7 overall, 1-7 SUNYAC) and pitched well. She gave up the lead-off hit in five of six innings pitched, but worked herself out of jams, limited the damage from the Red Dragons (11-5, 8-2) and stranded seven runners on base.

"Lindsay did a really awesome job for us in the first game," Maronski said. "Her past three outings she has done really, really well. She is keeping batters off balance and getting a lot of pop-ups. She is a competitor and that's what I really liked about her. In those situations with runners on, she really knows how to bear down and get a pitch to get themselves out."
 
 
After taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, Cortland added one in the second as Sabrina Caputo led off with a triple. She scored a batter later, but Roman didn't allow the Red Dragons to pile on and had some help in the field. Freshman shortstop Rhionna Bianchini saved a run on a nice play to keep the ball in front of her on a hit by Taylor Felicello by not letting the ball to shoot through the gap and holding the bases loaded. Roman got out of the inning by forcing a fly out to keep the game a 2-0 heading into the bottom of the inning.
 
Roman gave up a home run and then a double in the top of the fourth, but after a mound visit from catcher Madison Rappold, Roman settled down and earned the next two outs to get the Hawks out of the inning trailing just 3-0. Roman followed up with a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth and in the bottom half, SUNY New Paltz had an opportunity to give her some run support. A hard-hit ball to first allowed Hawks senior second baseman Ashley Puig to arrive safely on base and then advanced to second on a throwing error by the shortstop. The Hawks couldn't take advantage though, as Cortland's Karlee Weeden registered a strikeout and then pop fly to close out the inning still unscathed. 
With runners on first and second, Cortland hit a slow dribbler to Bianchini at short, but she couldn't get a good throw off to Meagan Blair at third and all runners remained safe, loading the bases with no outs. Emily Fox stepped in to pitch for Roman and got three-straight outs, holding the Red Dragons to just two runs in the inning.
 
Trailing 5-0 in the last half of the seventh, the Hawks got on the board following a pinch hit RBI single by Lauren Shambo who scored Jessica Graepel, pinch-running for pinch hitter Kelly Marmorowski, from second. Cortland's Weeden sealed the final out and solidified the 5-0 outcome.
 
Roman finished with three strikeouts, giving up nine hits in the loss. Sydney Bonewit and Puig each had a two hits in the game, going 2-for-3 in game one.
 
Fox started game two and got herself out of a bases loaded jam in the top of the first, holding the Red Dragons to two runs after giving up a leadoff home run to Kelly O'Gorman. Fox found herself in a bases loaded, no-out situation in the next top inning, but forced two fly outs and a strikeout to get out of the second down just 3-0.  
 
SUNY New Paltz cut the deficit to one in the bottom of the third. Bianchini laid down a bunt single, finding a soft spot between the pitcher and the first baseman to beat out the play at first, while moving over Rappold who got on following an error by the Red Dragons. Bonewit then hit a hard liner into centerfield that gave O'Gorman trouble, as the ball popped out of her glove to allow both Rappold and Bianchini to score.
 
Kelly Marmorowski, getting her first start at first base for the Hawks and had a solid day both at the plate and in the field, followed with a two-out single to keep the inning alive. Puig took a walk, staying patient on a 3-1 count, but SUNY New Paltz couldn't capitalize as Shambo grounded out to end the inning. 
"She knows a couple things that she's needed to work on and in the past week and a half and I've really seen a huge improvement in her and she was really go getting it at practice," Maronski said of Marmorowski. "Her at-bats, she's been really hitting the ball so hard, so I wanted to give her a start and she did really, really well. She earned it."
 
Cortland gave itself a three-run cushion in the top of the fourth. Rappold helped her team get the first out of the inning after great throw to catch Gina Meyers trying to steal second. Bianchini got over and made the tag on the play for the inning's first out, but O'Gorman answered for the Red Dragons with a triple to right center in the next at-bat. Cortland added a liner over to the third base line and then an RBI double to centerfield to push its lead to 5-2.
 
The Hawks responded with a run in the bottom of the fourth. Carol Ann Campsey got SUNY New Paltz going with a lead off single just inside the third base line. Rappold then moved her over with a sac bunt and Bianchini followed with a base hit to left. With one out, Nina Simms did her job and plated Campsey with a slow grounder to the second baseman, but Cortland ended the threat from there with a ground out in the next at-bat.
 
A controversial top of the fifth inning ultimately determined the game. Cortland quickly got itself in scoring position following a leadoff double and a wild pitch to put a runner on third with no outs. Fox was then relieved by Katie Quagliana and faced her first batter in the Red Dragons' Tori Reich. Reich laid down a bunt in front of the plate and Rappold made an athletic play to grab the ball and dive over to tag Alyssa Finno coming home from third. Rappold seemingly made the tag before Finno touched the plate, but the home plate umpire saw it differently and called Finno safe, which gave Cortland a 6-3 lead.

Quagliana registered back-to-back strikeouts, but the inning continued on after Cortland followed with a double, a walk, another double and a single to push its cushion to 12-3.

"If he made that out, yes," said Maronski of whether the out at the plate if called would have allowed the Hawks a chance to come back late in the game. "That definitely gave them momentum."
 
SUNY New Paltz was held scoreless in the bottom of the inning and the game was finalized after five innings with the Red Dragons holding onto a nine-run lead.
 
Bianchini totaled two of her team's five hits in the game with Rappold, Campsey and Marmorowski registering the other three. Marmorowski finished the day 1-for-2 with a walk and five putouts, while Bonewit recorded a team-high two RBI in the outing.
 
The Hawks are back in action Tuesday, visiting Oneonta for a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m.

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