ONEONTA, N.Y. -- The SUNY Oneonta softball team continued their hot play and extended their win streak to 10 with a doubleheader victory over Buffalo State, Saturday afternoon. In the final home doubleheader of the season, the Red Dragons won game one, 9-6, and game two, 4-3, for their eighth straight SUNYAC victory, improving to 18-14 on the season, 10-4 in SUNYAC, while the Bengals dropped to 15-16 overall and 8-8 in conference play. Senior
Victoria Hussey (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown East) and freshman
Emily Brown (Westbury, N.Y./Clarke) both finished with two hits and two RBI in game one, and senior
Adriana Fiori (Newtown, CT/Brookfield) hit a go-ahead two-run triple in game two. Oneonta clinched a spot in the SUNYAC playoffs with the pair of wins.
Game One: Oneonta 9, Buffalo St. 6
Buffalo State gained an early lead off a fielder's choice, but Oneonta answered with four runs in the bottom of the first. Senior
Delaney Haley (Levittown, N.Y./Division Avenue) beat out a throw for a single then advanced to second when the second baseman dropped the catch at first. Fiori laid down a bunt and beat out the throw to first while the throw went wide, allowing her to go to second and Haley to score. Fiori crossed home on an infield pop-up, then, on a 1-1 count, Hussey lined a ball over the pitcher's head and into the outfielder for a two-run single and the 4-1 lead.
Senior
Gianna Cancelleri (Naples, FL/Washingtonville (NY)) led off the bottom of the second with a single off a bunt then stole second. After advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt, Cancelleri took home on a wild pitch. Caitlyn Parsons hit an RBI single in the top of the third for Buffalo St. and Lexi Quagliana had a two-RBI single to left in the top of the fifth inning to pull the Bengals within one, 5-4.
Following a pair of back-to-back bunts from Haley and Fiori, Brown smacked a triple into the right-center field gap to score both runners for a 7-4 advantage. Izzy Pezdek made it a one-run game again with a two-run home run in the top of the sixth, however Oneonta got both runs back in the bottom half of the inning. Runners were on second and third when Fiori laid down a bunt that went between the legs of the third baseman and allowed Hussey to score, Fiori to advance to second, and freshman
Ava Thys (Fairfax, Va./James W. Robinson Secondary (Va.)) to third. Junior
Sophia Mangone (Ardsley, N.Y./Ardsley) came into pinch-hit, swung at the first pitch she saw, and had the ball go past the diving Bengals shortstop into center field to bring Thys home.
Junior
Angelina Scalere (Ardsley, N.Y./Ardsley) was called to close the seventh inning and shut down the side with two strike outs for her second save of the season. Brown (8-5) earned the win, starting for the game's first 5.1 innings, striking out three, and allowing six runs on seven hits. Junior
Cadence Brennan (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) pitched 0.2 innings and struck out one.
Pezdek (7-6) received the loss after pitching 5.2 innings with three strikeouts and allowing nine runs, three earned, on 11 hits.
Game Two: Oneonta 4, Buffalo St. 3
Haley led off the bottom of the first inning of game two with a single then stole second. Bron hit a double over the left fielder's head to bring Haley in and to go up, 1-0. The Bengals took a 2-1 lead in the top of the second when Quagliana and Mya Hurley scored on a passed ball and throwing error. The Red Dragons tied it at two apiece off a dropped popup by the catcher that allowed Haley to come home.
Thys reached on an infield single with one out in the fourth, then Cancelleri worked a walk to get two runners on. Both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt from Haley before Fiori blasted one and hit the left field fence for a two-run, stand-up triple to go ahead, 4-2. The Bengals got within one run on an error in the fifth, but the Red Dragons held them off for the rest of the game. Buffalo State had one more chance in the top of the seventh with two outs and runners on first and second, however Scalere struck out Sydney Shuta for the final out of the game.
Fiori went 1-for-4 with two RBI, while Brown finished 1-for-3 with an RBI. Haley and Thys each had two hits, Haley scored twice, and Thys had one run.
Senior
Marissa Dionisio (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) (3-6) earned the win, pitching 6.0 innings with two strike outs, allowing three unearned runs on three hits. Scalere (3) picked up the save pitching the final inning and striking out one.
Pezdek (7-6) was tagged with the loss as she pitched 4.0 innings and allowed four runs, three earned, on five hits. Emma Hooftallen pitched 2.0 innings, struck out one and allowed three hits.
The Red Dragons are back in action Friday, May 3, at Brockport for a SUNYAC doubleheader at 3 pm. Â
