Hawks Softball Falls to Middlebury & Wellesley

By Ryan Novitsky

CLERMONT, FLA. – The State University of New York at New Paltz softball squad fell to Middlebury 3-0 and Wellesley 7-5 on Saturday morning to conclude its Spring Break trip in Florida.

The Hawks drop to 2-10 overall and are scheduled to host Ramapo on Tuesday, March 28 at 3 p.m. New Paltz then hosts SUNYAC foes Plattsburgh and Potsdam on April 1-2.

Middlebury moves to 1-2 while Wellesely moves to 1-0. New Paltz went 2-6 while in Florida.

Game One: Middlebury 3, New Paltz 0

The Panthers scored twice in the second and once in the sixth and outhit the Hawks 10-3 in the first game on Saturday.

Of New Paltz’s three hits, two came off the bat of senior Nicole DeCosta. Senior Fallon Spriggs provided the other base knock.

Junior Lauren Capello was charged with the loss, going all seven frames and earning two strikeouts.

Game Two: Wellesley 7, New Paltz 5

Despite trailing 5-0 entering the top of the sixth, the Hawks staged a valiant comeback effort but fell just short to wrap up their Spring Break trip.

New Paltz managed eight hits as freshman Julia DiSpignia finished 2-for-2 with two runs scored. Sophomore Taylor LaFrance went 2-for-3 in the leadoff spot.

Trailing 5-0, the Hawks got on the board when DiSpignia scored on a wild pitch in the sixth. Wellesley answered, however, and extended the lead to 7-1 in the bottom of the inning.

In the top of the seventh, smart base running and timely miscues by Wellesley made the contest interesting. LaFrance scored on a passed ball, freshman Caroline Alicandri stole home, Spriggs scored on an RBI groundout by senior Megan Carbia and DiSpignia scored on a wild pitch to make the game 7-5 in favor of Wellesley.