Oneonta, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz softball team received two great pitching outings from its veteran arms Wednesday, but struggled at the plate in game one and left Oneonta with a series split.
 
The Hawks (2-8 overall, 2-8 SUNYAC) had just four hits in the first outing against the Red Dragons, while Emily Fox tossed 6.1 innings, giving up just nine hits, two earned runs, two walks with five strikeouts in the 2-1 loss.
 
"Overall we played some pretty solid softball today," said SUNY New Paltz coach Krysti Maronski. "Emily threw excellent in the first game and unfortunately we just couldn't get our bats going to support her."
 
Katie Quagliana earned the game two start and had the best outing thus far of 2021. She went all seven innings, gave up just two earned runs and one walk, while striking out three to help her team to a 5-3 victory. 
"Katie did a really nice job of keeping their batters off balance and producing outs today," Maronski said. "We were also able to come up with strong defense today which was great to see."
 
The Red Dragons (7-5, 7-5) took a one run lead in the fourth, but the Hawks tied up the game in sixth in game one. Freshman Kelly Marmorowski led off the inning with a pinch-hit single. Julia Mastrup moved over Rhionna Bianchini who came into pinch hit for Marmorowski with a sacrifice bunt. Sydney Bonewit then brought in the game-tying run two batters later after knocking an RBI single to left. Oneonta rallied in the bottom of the seventh, as the hosts started the final inning with a lead-off double and ultimately batted in the winning run a batter later to take the one-run victory.
 
After mustering just four hits in the first game, Maronski switched up her lineup in game two and got production from a number of players in her lineup. Eight Hawks registered at least a hit in game two with Bianchini, Bonewit and Simms each having a multi-hit game.
 
Marmorowski got her team's offense going once again, this time in the top of the second on a leadoff single to left. Lauren Shambo moved her over on a sacrifice bunt and a hit-by-pitch, followed by consecutive walks scored Marmorowski to give SUNY New Paltz a 1-0 lead. Jessica Graepel knocked in Carol Ann Campsey on a fielder's choice to push the advantage to 2-0.
 
The Red Dragons gained a run back in the fourth, but the Hawks answered in the top of the fifth, adding three more runs to their cushion. Quagaliana helped her own cause with a leadoff single and Bianchini followed with another single before Bonewit loaded the bases with a base hit. Shambo platted Bonewit and Bianchini two batters later and Simms came through with her second RBI of the day, knocking a single through the left side to score Marmorowski to bring SUNY New Paltz's lead to 5-1.
 
Quagliana let up one more run in the sixth, but she, with help of her infield, closed out a game on a 6-3 double play.
 
"In the second game we switched things up a bit and added some new faces into the mix," Maronski said. "The whole team did a great job of keeping up with the energy and supporting one another. Overall, I'm happy with our effort today and the improvement we showed."
 
Marmorowski went 2-for-6 with two runs scored on the day. Bonewit finished 4-for-7 with an RBI and run scored. Shambo, Bianchini and Simms combined for five hits, two runs and four RBI.
 
Next up for SUNY New Paltz is Potsdam, as the team will make the trip to visit the Bears Saturday for a doubleheader starting at 2 p.m.

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