CLERMONT, FL – Playing in Clermont, FL over spring break for the PFX Spring Games, the State University of New York at New Paltz softball team went 1-1 on day one, defeating Alfred University 5-4 before losing to Misericordia University by a score of 5-1. 
 
In the first game, Lindsay Roman got off to a difficult start but rebounded nicely to get her second win of the season. She pitched a complete game, giving up eight hits but striking out four while giving up just two earned runs over the seven full innings. 
 
"Game one was really exciting," said Hawks coach Krysti Maronski. "Early on, we were getting lots of base runners and just couldn't get the key hit to get them in, but their at-bats were good. Eventually the key hits came and we were able to close it out in the seventh."
 
In the top of the first, it looked like SUNY New Paltz was going to take control of the game early on. Rhionna Bianchini was hit by a pitch to lead off, and Jackie Rometo singled into left field while Katie Quagliana followed up with a single that loaded the bases. Madison Maggs hit a ground ball that advanced Quagliana and Rometo, however the Saxon's Megan Bennett threw to home where Amber Swain tagged out Bianchini. Bennett then struck out both Sydney Bonewit and Kelly Marmorowski to end the threat. In the bottom of the first, Roman retired all three Alfred batters in succession for a 1-2-3 inning. 
The scoring for either club did not get going until the bottom of the third, when the Saxons scored two runs. Swain and Isabella Carrillo both singled into left field to put runners at first and second. Ashley Lugo bunted, which advanced Swain and Carrillo to second and third, and a single from Alyssa Guitron brought both Swain and Carrillo home to make the score 2-0 in favor of Alfred. Roman regrouped, though, and struck out Tatiana Mejia and got Mya Wells to ground out to get out of the inning without more damage being done. 
 
SUNY New Paltz responded well in the top of the fourth, as Jessica Graepel hit a sharp single into left field with one out. After Bianchini grounded out, Rometo hit an RBI double down the line, scoring Graepel. The Hawks went into the bottom of the fourth trailing by one run, 2-1. 
 
A Swain RBI single put the Saxons up 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth, but the SUNY New Paltz offense countered in the top of the fifth to close the gap. After Maggs was hit by a pitch and Bonewit walked, Marmorowski stepped up to the plate and advanced both Bonewit and Maggs into scoring position on a ground out. Campsey brought Bonewit home on a sacrifice fly to tie the game at three after five and a half innings. 
 
The game remained scoreless until the seventh inning when the Hawks managed two runs to take a 5-3 lead after going down 1-2-3 in the sixth. Bonewit singled up the middle and Marmorowski hit an RBI double into left field before Campsey hit an RBI single that scored Nicole Greco, who was pinch-running for Marmorowski. 
 
The Saxons managed one run in the bottom of the seventh when Guitron singled in Lugo. Roman, however, got Mejia to ground out to end the game and give SUNY New Paltz the 5-4 win. 
 
Rometo and Quagliana both went 2-for-4 in the game, with Rometo registering an RBI. Bonewit went 2-for-3, scored two runs, and walked, while Campsey was 1-for-3 and drove in two runs. Alfred was led by Guitron, who went 2-for-4 with three RBI. The Hawks outhit the Saxons 10-8 in the game. 
 
"Carol Ann was attacking pitches early in the count which is what we wanted the team to do and she had a great game," said Maronski of Campsey's two-RBI day in the first contest. "Lindsay threw a great game on the mound. Alfred is a solid squad so that was a nice win for us."
 
In their second game of the day, the Hawks fell victim to a strong outing from Cougar pitcher Alexa McHugh. The junior started off the game by striking out Bianchini, and got Rometo to pop up to third base and Quagliana to fly out to center field. 
 
In the bottom half of the inning, the Misericordia offense wasted no time getting things going. Zariah Alvin reached on an error by Mya DiRenzo, and McHugh singled to put Alvin in scoring position at second base. Nicole Elliott, batting third, hit into a fielder's choice that saw McHugh advance to second. With Elliott and McHugh on, Kaitlin Redling, following a Miranda Bohn fly out, singled in McHugh. Mistakes continued to plague SUNY New Paltz in the inning, as an error by Bianchini allowed Brianna Holder to take first base and score Elliott. Holder was caught stealing to end the inning as he was tagged by Bianchini, but not before Misericordia took a 2-0 lead.
 
In the bottom of the first, McHugh, who was very impressive in striking out five Hawks over four innings, found a groove. She struck out Bianchini and got Rometo and Quagliana both to fly out. 
 
McHugh continued her outstanding play though, not allowing the Hawks to capitalize on Harrison's strong second inning. McHugh struck out Bonewit and then got Marmorowski and DiRenzo both to fly out to dash any SUNY New Paltz hopes of responding. 
 
Neither team mustered anything in the third inning, but the Cougars started to get rolling in the fourth with back-to-back doubles from Redling and Holder making the score 3-0. Misericordia got a fourth run when Holder scored on a Griffin ground out. 
 
After another 1-2-3 inning from McHugh, she tripled in the top of the fifth and later scored on a Bohn ground out. The Hawks got their lone run in the bottom of the seventh when Maggs, pinch-hitting for Bianchini, hit a home run. Erin McGee, in relief of McHugh in the inning, regrouped, getting Rometo to fly out, and Quagliana and Bonewit to ground out to end the game. 
 
"In game two, we definitely had some struggles at the plate," said Maronski. "Misericordia is a really solid team and has a great pitcher. I think we could have made some more adjustments, however I think as the season progresses and we face some tougher pitchers, they will get better with that." 
 
Maggs' home run in the seventh was the only hit against the Cougars, a stat that was indicative of how good McHugh was on the mound. Jillian Harrison was given the loss after pitching through three innings, giving up two earned runs off four hits. Katie Quagliana pitched the last four innings and allowed two hits and one earned run with four strikeouts. 
 
"Katie and Jill both threw solid," Marowski said. "We just had one bad first inning defensively and were not able to come back from that."
 
Next up for SUNY New Paltz are Dominican University and UW-River Falls, March 12 at 1:20 p.m. and 5:40 p.m. 

"Overall, I'm happy with today's performance from our squad," Maronski said. "It's great to be down here in Florida in the nice weather and play some good softball. Props to Madison Maggs for coming in the seventh and attacking the first pitch she saw and launched it. I'm really looking forward to this week. We have a very talented team and we're excited to grow as a group and play quality softball this week." 

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