CHESTER, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State softball team split a pair of State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) games with SUNY New Paltz on Monday afternoon at the Frozen Ropes Training Center, defeating the Hawks, 4-2, in game one before dropping a 2-0 decision in game two.
 
Plattsburgh State moves to 11-9 overall (3-1 SUNYAC) with the results and next visits the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Wednesday, April 5, for a 3 p.m. non-conference doubleheader. New Paltz moves to 3-11 overall (1-1 SUNYAC) with the results and hosts SUNY Potsdam tomorrow at the Frozen Ropes Training Center in an 11 a.m. doubleheader.
 
Game 1: Plattsburgh State 4, New Paltz 2
 
A three-run fourth inning ultimately lifted Plattsburgh State to the game-one victory, relying on a strong performance from junior pitcher Katie Pitkin (Dexter, N.Y./General Brown) down the stretch to come away with the win.
 
Junior right fielder Amanda Tantillo (Florida, N.Y./S.S. Seward) plated sophomore catcher Jennifer Groat (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) in the top of the first with a sacrifice fly before junior pitcher Lauren Capello doubled up the middle to plate senior center fielder Fallon Spriggs to tie the game. Capello pushed across junior left fielder Taylor Leonette to give New Paltz a 2-1 edge in the bottom of the third, but the Cardinals ended up scoring three runs with two outs in the fourth. Sophomore left fielder/third baseman Amy Glashoff (Montrose, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) plated freshman designated player Haleigh Agans (Brasher Falls, N.Y./St. Lawrence Central) with a single up the middle before sophomore shortstop Kaitlyn Preiss (Cornwall, N.Y./Cornwall) drove in the two go-ahead runs with a triple.
 
Tantillo keyed the Cardinal attack with a 2-for-3 outing at the plate, driving in one run. Leonette and Capello each notched two hits for the Hawks.
 
Pitkin rose to 7-3 overall with the complete-game victory, yielding two runs on six hits and six walks while striking out five. Capello shouldered the loss for New Paltz, allowing four runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out six in a full seven innings of work.
 
Game 2: New Paltz 2, Plattsburgh State 0
 
New Paltz scored two runs in the bottom of the first, and that wound up being all the offense the Hawks needed to pull out the game-two win.
 
With one out in the first, sophomore shortstop Taylor LaFrance scored on a double-steal attempt, and Spriggs drove in Capello with an RBI bunt single during the ensuing at-bat.
 
From that point forward, the pitchers went to work. Freshman pitcher Rhea Pitkin (Dexter, N.Y./General Brown) threw the first five innings and yielded two runs—both in the first inning—while striking out five before junior pitcher Taylor Smith (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville) took over and permitted just one hit in one inning of relief. Their counterpart, senior Kiersten Carlomagno, scattered two hits in a complete-game shutout for New Paltz.
 
Agans and senior first baseman Hope VanBrocklin (Dexter, N.Y./General Brown) each registered a hit for Plattsburgh State, while Leonette, Spriggs and junior right fielder Julia Perhacs all tallied base knocks for New Paltz. Neither team was able to muster an extra-base hit in the contest.