New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz grinded out a 1-0 eight-inning win at Mary Gray Deane Field Monday over Fredonia State, which catapulted them into a dominating second win where it knocked off the Blue Devils, 10-0 in five innings.
"We really talked with the team over the weekend how we need to be focused for every single game," said Hawks coach
Krysti Maronski. "It doesn't matter what opponent we're playing. It's just another day, just another game and we have to play to our strength and really just focus on us. If we're able to play the way we can play, we can beat anyone on any given day."
The first game was the difference in the series, with both pitchers throwing lights out. Fredonia's Emily Chelius gave up two hits all game and had a no-hitter going into the bottom of the fifth inning. SUNY New Paltz's
Lindsay Roman was efficient on the mound, throwing just 80 pitches in a complete game eight-inning shutout, registering eight strikeouts, no walks and allowed just seven hits with just three landing in the outfield.
"My curve was really good today. I thought it was the best one," Roman said after the win. "Before Taylor [LaFrance], one of our assistant coaches, she just told me to play my game and that's what I did, and I felt really good out there. I knew my teammates had my back."
Gallery: (4-11-2022) Softball vs Fredonia
The Hawks had a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the fifth with
Jillian Shelbourne leading off with a walk and
Carol Ann Campsey getting on after a botched pop-up by the third baseman on a bunt allowed her on base.
Nicole Greco was hit to load the bases with no outs, but SUNY New Paltz couldn't capitalize, as Chelius got
Madison Maggs to fly out,
Sydney Bonewit to pop out and
Rhionna Bianchini to ground out to end the inning.
Roman pitched out of a jam in the sixth with Fredonia getting a runner on after a hard hit to first-baseman
Mya DiRenzo who nearly beat the runner to the bag but was called safe. The Blue Devils hit a soft blooper on their next at-bat to put runners on first and second with one out before Roman caught the next batter looking for the second out. Fredonia nearly capitalized though, as Amber Piniewski struck a liner to left field, but
Carol Ann Campsey gunned in a throw to
Jessica Graepel at the plate who tagged the runner out to keep the game scoreless and put an end to the top half of the sixth.
"It definitely boosted our energy and kept our confidence going int the second game," Campsey said. "Who knows it could have been a completely different ball game. [That] run could have ended up winning the game, but we kept up the tight defense, went into extra innings and [won the game]."
Roman answered with a quick 1-2-3 inning in the seventh, striking out the side in order. In the eighth Roman kept rolling, allowing a two-out single to center but closing out the inning with a line out by Piniewski. The bottom half the inning, the Hawks were patient at the plate and started wearing down Chelius in extended at-bats.
After two ground outs, Graepel forced a two-out walk to get on with
Isabella Shepherd coming in to pinch run. Shelbourne then delivered a single to left, advancing Shepherd into scoring position and setting the table for Campsey who hit a hard shot toward the right side the second baseman couldn't handle that go through to shallow right field, allowing Shepherd to race around third and touch home to beat the throw and end the game in walk-off fashion.
"I mean I definitely want to be put in those situations," Campsey said. "With runners on base in extra innings, you know you got to come in there, be confident you're put in the position to do the job and ultimately you want to get the job done. It was a great feeling to do that for our team."
SUNY New Paltz registered two hits in the game, coming from Shelbourne and Maggs with Graepel tallying two walks, the latter was key in the walk off. Roman improved to 8-3 with the win, as her ERA lowered to a 1.84 after registering her fourth complete game.
"It felt really good," Roman said. "I think the end of the game one led into the beginning of game two and we really just came out strong. We were really confident at the end of the game, because everyone started hitting and I think the hitters became more comfortable at the plate, and we just got really hyped."
Momentum swung completely toward SUNY New Paltz in game two. After throwing 100-plus pitches in 7.2 innings, Chelius came in and started the second game and the Hawks took advantage and jumped all over the Blue Devils off the first at-bat.
Jackie Rometo led off with a hard liner to left field and gave her team a 1-0 lead in the next at-bat.
Katie Quagliana hit a grounder to short who overthrew first, allowing her to reach safely with Rometo using her speed to hustle around third and easily beat the throw home to get the Hawks on the board immediately. Following a sacrifice bunt by Graepel to move Quagliana over, Shelbourne ripped a shot to left, scoring Quagliana. Campsey then found the gap in right center for an RBI double and
Jillian Harrison, who got the start on the mound in game two, helped her own cause with an RBI single to right, plating Campsey and capping the inning with SUNY New Paltz up, 4-0.
"I think it was huge for us to get that first game win," Maronski said. "On either side it would've been a heart break for either of us to lose, but I think we really used that momentum and the high of the first win to propel us into the second game and come out strong."
Fredonia threatened in the top half of the second, which could have turned the game. Nicole Kumro opened up the inning with a double before Harrison struck out the next batter swinging for the first out. A ground out pushed Kumro to third with two outs, putting Alyssa Santiago at the plate in position to get the Blue Devils on the board. On a 2-1 count, Maronski took a mound visit to chat with Harrison who then proceeded to fan Santiago on the next two pushes for the strikeout, stranding the runner and holding the shutout.
"Told her that she just needed to go right at the batter," Maronski said. "If she threw balls in the strike zone, she was going to get her out."
After adding two in the second, SUNY New Paltz broke the game open in the third. Maggs led off with a walk and Harrison followed with a single. Rometo struck another hard hit ball into left, scoring Maggs with Quagliana following with a hit to center, plating Harrison. Shelbourne then once again capped the scoring with a two-out stroke out to center, scoring Rometo easily and bringing the lead to 9-0 entering the fourth.
Kelly Marmorowski helped add one more in the fourth, as she kept the inning alive with a two-out double to deep center. Pinch-hitting for Bonewit,
Juliet Bernstein brought Marmorowski home with a two-out double to the left field fence.
"I thought we hit some balls well in the first game and credit to Fredonia. Their defense made some awesome plays," Maronski said. "We told our girls to keep sticking with it, sticking with the same game plan and they'll fall our way and they started off doing that."
After totaling two hits in game one, SUNY New Paltz rattled off 13 hits in just five innings in game two and backed up the day with solid defense in the field, highlighting by Campsey's throw-out in game one and a diving catch by Bonewit in center in game two.
"Overall, today this was the kind of defense that we knew we could play," Maronski said. "I think they're starting to have confidence in themselves as well, because when that self-doubt creeps in and you think you might make a mistake, you usually probably make a mistake, so we were talking about confidence a lot, knowing that they're in their position for a reason."
Rometo was the catalyst offensively, as the lead-off hitter went 3-for-3 with three runs and an RBI. Quagliana went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI, while Shelbourne and Campsey each went 2-for-3 with a run and two RBI. Harrison secured her fourth win of the season after pitching 4.1 innings, giving up five hits with three strikeouts.
The Hawks are back on their home field Tuesday, taking on Buffalo State for a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m.
"New opponent, new day," Maronski said. "We're going to just take it one game at a time and play our game."
Post-Game Interview with Lindsay Roman & Carol Ann Campsey
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