The SUNY Oneonta softball team split its doubleheader with New Paltz today to end the regular season.  The Red Dragons did earn the No. 6 seed for the SUNYAC tournament, which begins on Thursday at Cortland.  Their opponent and the game time will not be known until the conference releases the final bracket later today.
 
Both squads came from behind to win.  Oneonta won the first game, 5-4, on a walk-off double by junior Cori McFall (Pleasant Valley/Arlington).  In the second game, New Paltz rallied with five runs in the sixth and added two more in the seventh to win 9-5.
 
Game 1 – Oneonta 5, New Paltz 4
All the drama in this one came down to the last at-bat for Oneonta (22-12, 9-9 SUNYAC).  Oneonta loaded the bases with one out for McFall who cleared the bases for the game-winning, walk-off hit.
 
Senior Katie O'Gorman (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) started the seventh with a single through the left side before sophomore Selena Ruiz (Westbury/W.T. Clarke) beat out a bunt to set the table.  Sophomore Dana Del Genio (New Hartford/New Hartford) then sacrificed both runners over before senior Marlene Cuevas (Wappingers Falls/Roy C. Ketcham) worked for a walk to load the bases.
 
New Paltz (18-18, 9-9 SUNYAC) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first when catcher Nicole DeCosta singled to bring in a pair of runs.  Oneonta tied the game in the bottom of the inning on a pair of unearned runs.
 
New Paltz added single runs in the third and sixth innings to take a 4-2 lead.  Alexa Mastando came around to score after a throw on an attempted steal slipped out to the outfield.  DeCosta drove in her third run of the game in the sixth where Fallon Spriggs came in to score from second.
 
Ruiz and freshman Kate Jencarelli (Roseland, NJ/West Essex ) each had two hits in the game to lead Oneonta.  DeCosta was 3-for-3 to lead the Hawks.
 
Senior Sabrina DeAngelis (East Meadow/Kellenberg Memorial) went the distance to record her tenth win of the season.  DeAngelis struck out five batters in the contest.
 
Game 2 – New Paltz 9, Oneonta 5
Once again, the Hawks struck for a pair in the first inning to grab an early lead.  Julia DiSpigna drove in the first run with a ground out to second base before DeCosta brought home the second run with a single to centerfield.
 
Oneonta countered in its half of the first plating four runs.  Cuevas doubled home Ruiz with the first run before junior Rebecca Wentink (Maybrook/Valley Central) drove in a pair with a single through the right side.  The final run came in on an RBI double by Jencarelli that scored Wentink.
 
Oneonta scored an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth to increase its lead to 5-2 entering the top of the sixth.
 
In the sixth, the Hawks collected six hits including three for extra bases.  DiSpigna doubled to lead off the inning and scored on a single by DeCosta.  Megan Carbia hit a pinch-hit triple to knock in another run and Mastando drove in a run with a triple of her own before scoring on a single by Taylor Leonette.
 
The Hawks added its final two runs in the seventh inning
 
Lauren Cappello pitched two complete games for the Hawks and came away 1-1 for her efforts.  Leonette recorded a three-hit game with a run scored and a run batted in.
 
DeAngelis, who came in during the sixth inning of a tie ballgame, suffered the loss allowing two runs in two-thirds of an inning.