Game 1: Farmingdale State 5, New Paltz 3
Game 2: Farmingdale State 9, New Paltz 7
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. | Led by a combined 5-for-8 day from junior right fielder Jenna Giliberti (Bellmore, N.Y.) and a 4-for-6 display with four RBI from senior first baseman Brooke Walker (Hampton Bays, N.Y.), the Farmingdale State College softball team opened its home slate Wednesday night with a pair of victories over visiting SUNY New Paltz (9-7). The Rams (4-7) used a four-run third inning to secure a 5-3 decision in the opener, before scoring four runs over their last two offensive innings to capture a 9-7 triumph in the nightcap.
Game 1
Walker squeezed home Giliberti in the bottom of the first inning to level the game at 1-1, before the Hawks went back ahead by a run one inning later.
From there, a four-run bottom of the third inning by FSC once its lineup turned over provided all the offense that sophomore righty Ava Shorr (No. Babylon, N.Y.) would need to earn the victory. Walker's base-knock up the middle plated Giliberti to tie the game at 2-all, before junior shortstop Angelina Capuano (Sayville, N.Y.) give the hosts the lead for good when her double to left-center field chased home Walker with the go-ahead run. One batter later, Shorr helped herself with a two-run single to center, scoring Capuano and freshman designated player Samantha Stolfi (Pt. Jefferson Station, N.Y.) to push Farmingdale State ahead, 5-2.
Giliberti went 2-for-4 with a double in the contest, while Capuano and Shorr both went 2-for-3 at the dish. Shorr went the distance in the circle for the win, allowing one earned run while striking out three New Paltz hitters.
Game 2
Walker (a home run shy of the cycle) and Giliberti (two SB) each went 3-for-4 with two runs scored in the finale, with Stolfi going 2-for-4 while driving in two. Senior center fielder Priscilla Rivera (Brentwood, N.Y.) scored twice and stole one base in the win, with Shorr fanning six in another complete-game showing in the circle.
After New Paltz opened up a 3-0 lead with a single run in the first and two more in the third frame, FSC once again registered a four-run bottom of the third to go in front. Giliberti scored the second run of the inning when she came home as Rivera reached on a throwing error in the infield, before Walker's gap shot to right-center brought Rivera home with the tying run. Stolfi then drove home FSC's first baseman with a single up the middle, giving the home side a 4-3 advantage.
Farmingdale State upped its lead to 5-3 when freshman Christina Rodriguez (Vineland, N.J.) scampered home on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fourth inning, before the Hawks leveled the contest at 5-5 with a two-run top of the fifth stanza. In the bottom half of the inning, Stolfi gave Farmingdale State a lead it would not relinquish, when her single inside the third-base bag drove in freshman pinch runner Alyssa Baez (Queens, N.Y.) to put her side back in front, 6-5.
The Rams pushed across three unearned runs with two down in the bottom of the sixth, with Walker driving in Giliberti on a single through the left side before coming home -- along with Rivera -- on an infield error one batter later.
New Paltz rallied for two runs in the top of the seventh and had the potential tying run in scoring position with two away, before Shorr closed out the win with a strikeout to the last batter of the contest.
Head coach Liz Pennino's Farmingdale State squad is next in action on April 8 (Sat.), when it travels to the campus of LIU Post in Brookville, N.Y., for a 12 noon, Skyline Conference-opening doubleheader against St. Joseph's University-Brooklyn.