A Quick Look
The SUNY Oneonta softball team battled for more than five hours today and came away with a doubleheader split at Oswego.  The Red Dragons rallied from behind to defeat the Lakers 6-4 in eight innings in game 1 before falling in game 2, 7-5.
 
The Inside Story
Oswego (7-13, 2-2 SUNYAC) scored a pair of runs in the first inning of game 1 and carried its 2-0 lead into the third inning.
 
Oneonta (7-13-1, 2-4 SUNYAC) cut its deficit in half with a single run in the top of the third.  Junior Jade Meehan (Halcottsville/Roxbury Central) reached on a throwing error, which allowed her to get to second base.  She advanced to third on a ground out and scored an unearned run on another ground out.
 
The Lakers loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the fourth and turned it into two more runs.  Oswego was able to capitalize on an outfield error which allowed both runs to score.
 
The Red Dragons created a little two-out magic in the fifth scoring two runs to pull back to within 4-3.  Sophomore Caroline Koch (New City/Clarkstown South) doubled to get things going.  The Lakers then committed three errors during the next two at-bats allowing Koch and junior Bailey Schwark (Port Ewen/Kingston) to score.
 
Senior Lauren Sabatino (Bayville/Locust Valley) hit a one-out double in the seventh.  Sophomore Meaghan Raliegh ran for Sabatino and went to third on a wild pitch before scoring on a squeeze bunt by Schwark to tie the game at four apiece.
 
Oneonta rallied with two outs in the eighth inning to grab a 6-4 lead, which would be the final score.  Sabatino drove in the first run with an infield single and Koch drove in the insurance run with a double to center field.
 
Junior Alyssa Bluethgen (Commack/Commack) went the distance for Oneonta to pick up her fourth win of the season.  Bluethgen struck out a season high eight batters while allowing six hits and two earned runs.
 
In game 2, Oneonta scored a single run in the first inning on an RBI single by Sabatino.
 
Oswego plated single runs in the first and second innings to grab a 2-1 lead.  Oneonta came back with a run of its own in the third to tie the game.  Freshman Olivia Murray (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) was able to score from third on a wild pitch.
 
The Lakers were able to create some breathing room with two runs in the fourth and three more runs in the fifth to carry a 7-2 advantage into the sixth inning.
 
The Red Dragons tried to rally once again scoring twice in the sixth and once in the seventh, but fell a couple of runs short.  Megan Palmatier (Bainbridge/Bainbridge-Guilford) scored the first run of the sixth on a wild pitch before Amanda Sexton (Port Jervis/Port Jervis) scored on an infield single by senior Dana Del Genio (New Hartford/New Hartford).  Oneonta's run in the seventh came off the bat of Sabatino who hit her second home run in as many days.
 
Just the Stats
Sabatino collected five hits today while driving in three runs.  Koch, Del Genio, Sexton and Palmatier all had three hits each on the day.  Koch had a pair of doubles in the first game and Sabatino added a double in game 1 to go with her home run.
 
What's Next
Oneonta is scheduled to play Brockport at home on Tuesday in the rescheduled doubleheader between the two squads.  First pitch is scheduled for 3pm.