NEW PALTZ, N.Y. -- The Oneonta softball team came up short against Buffalo State, 4-3, in an elimination game on day two of the SUNYAC tournament in New Paltz, Friday afternoon. Oneonta took the lead in the third inning and held on to it until the sixth, when Buffalo State scored two runs on a fielding error. The Red Dragons finished the season 14-27 overall, 11-7 in SUNYAC play, and fourth in the conference tournament.
Freshman
Ella Kean (Ballston Lake, NY/Shenendehowa) finished the game 1-for-3 with two RBI, while senior
Emily Brown (Westbury, NY/Clarke) went 2-for-4. Freshman
Eva Blaney (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman) was 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored, and sophomore
Anna Spicciatie (Oakdale, N.Y./Connetquot) recorded an RBI and scored a run.
Buffalo State scored the first run of the game in the bottom half of the first on an RBI single from Izzy Pezdek.
Oneonta got on the board and took the lead with two runs in the top of the third inning. Spicciatie got hit by a pitch to lead the inning off, then sophomore
Sophia Camacho (Newburgh, NY/Our Lady of Lourdes) hit an infield single to the pitcher to get two runners on. After both Red Dragons advanced to second and third on a wild pitch, Kean came up to the plate and hit a pop up in front of the Bengals shortstop. The ball had so much spin that once it hit the ground, the ball bounced away from the shortstop towards the outfield grass, allowing Spicciatie to cross home and Camacho to slide safely home before the tag.
In the top of the fourth, the Red Dragons added another run to make it a 3-1 game. Blaney roped a line drive into left field for a one-out double. After hitting a deep shot that landed just foul past the left field pole, sophomore
Kayla Kean (Ballston Lake, N.Y./Shenendehowa) poked a liner above the shortstop's head to get runners on the corners. Spicciatie was up next, and she hit and infield grounder to bring Blaney home.
Buffalo State cut the deficit to one with an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Bengals had a couple of chances to get the tying run on base in the fifth inning, but the Red Dragons made a pair of impressive plays to maintain the lead. Ashley Jedrich hit a shallow fly ball to right field where Blaney laid out for the diving catch, then senior
Anna Torgersen (Chester, NJ/Mendham) caught Ella Stewart's line drive that was hit right back to her.
The Bengals gained the 4-3 final lead with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Buffalo State had two runners on with two outs and had Deme Kellogg hit a single up the middle. The ball then went under the glove and passed the Red Dragon outfielder for the two runners to score.Â
Oneonta went down in order in the seventh inning to end the game.
Torgersen (7-12) was tagged with the loss after pitching 5.2 innings, striking out two batters, and allowing four runs on eight hits. Sophomore
Tanner Smith (White Plains, N.Y./Vahalla) pitched against two batters and recorded the final out.
Pezdek (15-5) pitched the complete game for Buffalo State, struck out three, and allowed three runs on six hits. Kellogg finished the game 3-for-3 with two RBI, and Pezdek was 1-for-3 with an RBI.
The game marks the end of the careers of four Red Dragon seniors including
Emily Brown (Westbury, NY/Clarke),
Jaime Cardello (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas),
Abigail Silliman (Rensselaer, N.Y./Columbia), and
Anna Torgersen (Chester, NJ/Mendham).
