Troy, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz softball team earned a doubleheader split on the road against RPI Saturday.
 
The Hawks (3-9) went hitless in game one against the Engineers (1-1) and suffered a 3-0 loss, but bounced back with a 2-0 victory in game two, backed by another impressive outing in the circle by junior right-handed pitcher Katie Quagliana.
 
"Overall we definitely picked up our play in game two versus game one," said SUNY New Paltz coach Krysti Maronski. "The first game out we got excellent pitching from Jill [Harrison] who came in and threw her own no hitter with some great defense, however we did not execute a great game plan and were not focused on our adjustments and having good at-bats at the plate."
 
Emily Fox started the first game for the Hawks, but struggled early and allowed RPI to get a 3-0 lead after giving up two hits and two walks, along with a wild pitch. Jillian Harrison came in for relief and had arguably her best outing as a Hawk thus far. 
The junior transfer pitched six innings after getting three straight outs to end the bottom of the first and didn't give up a single hit the rest of the way, while totaling six strikeouts and no walks.
 
Quagliana was just as impressive in game two. She went seven innings, giving up just three hits without any walks and finished with a career-high six strikeouts in her second win of the year.
 
"In game two we got another great outing from Katie along with some solid defense behind her," Maronski said. She is looking much more like herself — confident, composed and competitive, and really doing a nice job of hitting her spots."
 
SUNY New Paltz gave Quagliana some run support in the third with Nina Simms leading off with a walk and then putting herself in scoring position two batters later with a stolen base. Lauren Shambo brought Simms home on a two-out swing to center, giving the Hawks a 1-0 advantage. 
 
Kelly Marmorowski led off the sixth with a double for SUNY New Paltz. Quagliana helped her own cause on an RBI single in the next at-bat, which then forced the Engineers into a pitching change. SUNY New Paltz couldn't pile on, as a strikeout by Julia Mastrup and then a pop-up by Simms sandwiched between a single by Jessica Graepel ended the inning, leaving two on for the Hawks.
 
The runners left on base nearly came back to hurt them, as RPI threatened Quagliana's shutout in the bottom of the seventh. The Engineers got their leadoff batter on following an error on a grounder to short by freshman Rhionna Bianchini. Quagliana popped up the next batter for the first out, but again Bianchini had a miscue handling a ball that allowed two runners on with one out. A sac bunt put both runners in scoring position with two outs, setting the table for the game-winning run at the plate.
 
Quagliana forced a shallow pop fly to right field and Bianchini, determined to close out the game despite the errors earlier in the inning, made a tremendous effort to cover ground and secure the catch while colliding with Hawks left fielder Carol Ann Campsey who was also running in to make the play. Bianchini secured the catch and the win for the Hawks' third of the season.
 
"The last play was definitely a nail-biter," Maronski said. "We knew as soon as it was up it was going to be a tough play for either CA or Rhionna to make and luckily Rhionna was able to hang onto it. That was huge from her, as earlier in the inning she had a couple mishaps so it was great to see her really go after it and pickup herself and her team to win the game."
 
SUNY New Paltz is back in action Tuesday when it travels to face Oswego State for a non-conference doubleheader starting at 3 p.m.

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