New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz collected two wins Sunday over visiting SUNY Cortland, 3-0 and 16-10, respectively.
 
The Hawks capped their opening weekend by going a perfect 4-0 to open up SUNYAC play, placing themselves atop the conference standings as they improved to 16-4 on the season.
 
"This was a very special [weekend] because we've been playing for almost a month now prior to being on our home field so we were really excited to actually bring it home and see similar faces that we know," said SUNY New Paltz sophomore Jaycee Filancia. "It feels so good. Cortland has been a rival and we've beat them last year too, so they were ready to come back and get us, but we put a stop to it."
 
The two games were a juxtaposition of each other with Lindsay Roman commanding the mound in game one, allowing just three hits in a quick low scoring affair. While in game two, the Hawks utilized all three of their pitchers with an offensive onslaught between the two programs as the hosts coming through with 19 hits to hold onto the lead and come away with the win.
 
Roman tossed another gem of a game to start off the afternoon, allowing just three hits in seven innings of work to earn her third complete game shutout victory of the season after recording three strikeouts in the outing.
 
SUNY New Paltz backed up Roman with some solid defense. In the top of the second Jillian Shelbourne made a nice play to get her glove out and make a shoestring catch on a pop-up foul ball to get the first out of the inning. Lauren Serrao then made quick work of a grounder to second before Roman closed out the frame with a strikeout after Cortland got on with a base hit through the left side a batter earlier.
 
 
Sydney Bonewit, who was added back to the roster in her first weekend of action, made a highlight catch out in right as she and center fielder Jackie Rometo collided on a fly ball hit in the gap. Bonewit showed why she was an All-SUNYAC selection a year ago, taking the contact and holding onto the grab to collect the second out of the top of the third inning. The Red Dragons extended the frame with a single over the third base side, but Roman earned the final out of the inning on a flyout to Rometo at center.
 
SUNY New Paltz provided Roman with run support in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead. Jillian Shelbourne sliced a ball that tailed over the center fielder's head for a one-out double to get the threat started. Filancia followed with a single to add a base runner on with Kelly Marmorowski loading the bases after getting hit by a pitch on the ensuing at-bat. Rhionna Bianchini then capitalized, as she hit a soft blooper over short to plate the go-ahead run for the Hawks, but the offense stalled from there and SUNY New Paltz ended the inning with a slight, 1-0 advantage.
 
After Roman earned three straight outs in the sixth, the Hawks added on in the bottom half, started with a patient at-bat by Lauren Serrao who ultimately led off with a base hit over the third base side to get the offense started. After Rometo was hit by a pitch, O'Brien laid down a perfectly placed bunt to mover runners over into scoring position and setting the table for Shelbourne. The All-Region first baseman came through clutch for her team, ripping a two-RBI single down the right field side to bring home both Serrao and Rometo to push the advantage, 3-0.

Rometo did the rest, as she earned three straight flyouts in the sixth and then closed out the seventh, giving up just a hit before a pop-up locked up the game one win.
 
SUNY New Paltz produced seven hits in the game, Shelbourne accounting for two as she finished 2-for-3 with two RBI including a double.
 
Game two was a high-scoring affair, started with a 1-0 lead for Cortland to begin the first. Sydney Waldon limited the damage in the inning, stranding runners in scoring position with a strikeout and ground out to keep the difference at just one.
 
The Hawks came through in the bottom of the frame, scoring seven runs in the inning and from there, never gave up the lead. Rometo and O'Brien hit back-to-back base hits to open up with Filancia coming through two batters later with a two-RBI double to give her team the 2-1 lead.
 
"This game was very back and forth," Filancia said. "I think it really showed our heart and that we really want this, and how good we really are. We really came back, and we never fell behind. We really put our heart into it."
 
The Red Dragons then had trouble throwing strikes, as a walk and a wild pitch advanced runners with a passed ball plating Filancia. Six straight walks scored four more runs, allowing SUNY New Paltz to take a 7-1 advantage.
 
Cortland came back to get within three in the top of the second, forcing the Hawks to replace Waldon with Alyssa Zangrilli who yielded two more runs to create a two-run game heading into the bottom half. SUNY New Paltz earned insurance runs though, to re-establish a four-run cushion in the second. Filancia led off with a triple to right before Isabella Shepherd and Rometo ripped back-to-back two-out base hits to score runs to extend the lead to 9-5.
 
SUNY New Paltz added on in the bottom of the third, as Sophia D'Arcangelis singled to short to score Kate Hope who pinch ran for Shelbourne who led off with a base hit. Shepherd notched another RBI single to score Filancia with Rometo capping the stretch with a two RBI base hit to plate Sydney Bonewit and D'Arcangelis, which fatten the cushion to 13-5.
 
Cortland stormed back in the fifth, getting within three as Roman came back in to relieve Zangrilli with two outs. The inning ended on a heads up play by Filancia and O'Brien, as they caught the Red Dragons trying to extend a play and take an open base at third, but O'Brien came hustling in to cover right field following an attempted bunt attempt. Filancia threw to O'Brien for the tag to get out of the stanza, holding the score at 13-10 in favor of the Hawks.
 
SUNY New Paltz hung on from there, as it even scored three more to add more padding to its lead. Filancia and Bianchini doubled on consecutive at-bats with Bonewit plating Bialchni to create the six-run cushion.
 
Filancia finished a perfect, 5-for-5 with four runs and two RBI including two doubles and a triple. Rometo was also perfect, hitting 4-for-4 with a run and four RBI and a walk. O'Brien went 2-for-4 with a run, an RBI and a walk. Bianchini added two runs and two RBI with a hit and a walk, while D'Arcangelis scored three times and had an RBI and a walk. Shepherd went 2-for-2 with a run, three RBI and a walk to solidify the backend of the order.
 
"Recently, I've been in my head a lot so this game I really settled down and I didn't allow myself to get in there and I just came up for my team when they needed me," Filancia said.
 
Roman earned the win as she finished the last 2.2 innings, giving up five hits, one earned run with one strikeout to improve to 7-3 on the year.
 
SUNY New Paltz is back in action Tuesday, going on the road for a doubleheader against Mount Saint Mary College at 3 p.m.
 

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