New Paltz, NY — Starting up conference play for the first time this season, the State University of New York at New Paltz earned a series split against two-time defending SUNYAC Champions SUNY Geneseo Friday on Mary Gray Deane Field.
 
The Hawks (10-10 overall, 1-1 SUNYAC) rallied for an extra-inning walk off winner in game one, 2-1 before falling in game two, 5-2.
 
"I was happy with the way today went," said SUNY New Paltz coach Krysti Maronski. "I thought we had much more competitive at-bats for the majority of day, and we had pretty good defense and quality pitching. If we play the way we played today and clean up a few things up I think we'll continue to move in the right direction."
 
Lindsay Roman pitched the full eight innings to open up the afternoon and came away with her eighth win of the season after allowing just three hits and no earned runs with four strikeouts. She held a shutout until the seventh inning, as a drop in left helped the Knights get their leadoff hitter on and in scoring position on the play. A fielder's choice moved over the game-tying run to third and Geneseo capitalized on the next at-bat, knotting the score at ones. Sydney Bonewit made a nice play for the second out of the inning, as the center fielder showed off her strong arm, getting the force at second before Roman closed out the inning on a ground out.
 
SUNY New Paltz earned the opening lead in the third inning, started with a leadoff single by Lauren Serrao who earned the start at second base. The freshman had one of her best games as a Hawk, making quality plays in the infield while adjusting to bat as a lefty slapper and went 1-for-3 with a run scored.

Serrao was moved over by a sacrifice bunt by Rhionna Bianchini and was then brought home an RBI double to left by Jillian Shelbourne with two outs to help the Hawks to a 1-0 lead.
 
 
"Lauren is one of the hardest workers on the team. She is a ball of energy, always talking, always positive, always uplifting her teammates and she's been struggling physically at the plate, so we switched her up and she's been working hard at that," Maronski said. "She played an awesome second base today. She's a great defender and she put the ball in play every time at the plate and had really great quality at-bats. I'm really proud of the way she played today."
 
The Hawks had another freshman step up in extra's as Emmie Mae Cabrera stepped in the box in the bottom of the eighth with runners on second and third. Bianchini led off the inning with a single to shallow right and Jackie Rometo followed with a base hit. Shelbourne moved over both runners on a check-swing that dribbled down the third base line, setting the table for Cabrera who smacked a hard-hit ball right through the infield to bring Bianchini home for the walk-off.  
"Her first two at-bats she didn't hit the ball really hard. She let a couple really nice pitches go by and her plan was to attack early, and she took the first pitch right up the middle where it was pitched," said Maronski of Cabrera's game-winning at-bat.
 
Kelly Marmorowski had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 with Bianchini, Rometo, Shelbourne, Cabrera, Serrao and Juliet Bernstein all earning hits in the win.
 
Geneseo took a quick 2-0 lead after the first in game two with SUNY New Paltz answering in the bottom of the second. Marmorowski's hot bat continued as she knocked an RBI double to center that was inches away of clearing the fence, scoring Bonewit from third to cut the score 2-1.
 
The Knights scored three runs in the fifth to create a 5-1 cushion. A one-out double started the run, which was followed by a walk and an error at first on a hard-hit ball down the first base side that hit off the glove of Shelbourne, scoring two. Sydney Waldon then came in to pitch for starter Jillian Harrison with Waldon getting the second out on a short flyout to right. Geneseo scored one more on an RBI single before Waldon got out of the inning on a pop out at first.
 
The Hawks threatened a rally in the bottom of the seventh after Jaycee Filancia led-off with a double to center. A groundout by Serrao moved Filancia over before Bianchini came up with an RBI base hit to cut the score to 5-2. However, the comeback ended with two straight outs on a groundout and flyout to stymy the threat.
 
Bianchini led the way offensively in game two, going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Rometo went 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base with Bonewit going 1-for-2 with a walk and run scored.
 
Harrison was given the loss after pitching 4.1 innings, allowing five hits and three earned runs with just one walk. Waldon threw the last 2.2 innings and gave up just two hits on 11 batters faced.
 
Despite the game two loss, the Hawks still earned an important win over the Knights, their first over the program since 2019, which also put an end to a four-game losing skid after falling in two one-run games against Mount Saint Mary three days prior.
 
"We're not playing our best softball yet and we talked about just staying within ourselves, having fun, being supportive teammates and just competing out there, and today I think that's what we did," Maronski said. "We just focused on us and what we can control."
 
The Hawks are back in action Saturday, hosting a doubleheader against SUNY Brockport on Mary Gray Deane Field starting at noon. The series will also serve as the team's annual Green Out for Mental Health Awareness.

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