NEW PALTZ, NY – The Buffalo State softball team won a second consecutive elimination game on Saturday afternoon at the SUNYAC Championships, defeating fourth-seeded Oneonta 5-2.
 
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Buffalo State – 5, Oneonta – 2
LOCATION: Mary Gray Deanne Field – New Paltz, NY
RECORDS: Buffalo State (17-19, 2-1 SUNYAC Tournament), Oneonta (23-17, 1-2 SUNYAC Tournament)
 
INSIDE THE BENGAL BOX SCORE

• Izzy Pezdek (Lancaster, NY/Grand Island) pitched a complete game for the victory, allowing one earned run and four hits while striking out five.
• Erin Paolilli (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington) had a double and two RBIs for the Bengals.
• Sarah Congelosi (Montgomery, NY/Valley Central) went 1-for-2 with two walks, and scored two runs.
• Sam Schafer (Depew, NY/Lancaster) and Madison Lucas (Oakdale, PA/West Allegheny) each had a hit and an RBI.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Bengals struck first with two runs in the first inning, as Congelosi walked and stole second, then scored on Lucas's RBI single on a line drive to right field. Schafer then drove in Caitlyn Parsons (Webster, NY/Webster Thomas) with an RBI single down the right field line.
• Pezdek retired Oneonta in order in each of the first two innings.
• In the top of the third, Paolilli hammered a double to left field to drive in Lucas and Kenzie Scott (Greene, NY/Greene) to make it 4-0.
• In the bottom of the third, Pezdek pitched out of a bases loaded jam by inducing a ground to Congelosi at short for a fielder's choice.
• Each team went down in order in the next two innings, with Pezdek striking out the side in the fifth inning.
• Oneonta took advantage of two Buffalo State errors in the bottom of the sixth to score twice and cut the Bengals' lead to 4-2.
• Congelosi singled to lead off the seventh and advanced to third on Mya Hurley's (Amherst, NY/Amherst) sacrifice bunt, then came in to score on an RBI groundout by Katie Pyszczek (Elma, NY/St. Mary's of Lancaster).
• The Red Dragons had two hits in the seventh inning and brought the tying run to the plate, but Parsons made a solid catch at the fence in foul territory to close out the win for the Bengals.

 
FOR THE FOES

• Delaney Haley had two hits and scored a run for Oneonta.

 
UP NEXT
The Bengals will face off against the loser of the game between New Paltz and Cortland. If Cortland wins, Buffalo State will take on New Paltz at 5:30 pm tonight. If New Paltz wins, Buffalo State will face Cortland tomorrow morning.