A Quick Look
The SUNY Oneonta softball team bats have certainly warmed up with the Florida weather taking a pair on day two of its southern trip.  The Red Dragons collected 35 hits in wins against Kenyon and Alfred State.
 
The Inside Story
In the first game today, Oneonta faced 11-2 Kenyon College and defeated them 10-4 on the strength of 17 hits and a solid outing from senior Alyssa Bluethgen (Commack/Commack).  Bluethgen went the distance allowing no earned runs and striking out four batters.
 
Oneonta (5-3) wasted no time in establishing control scoring five times in the top of the first inning.  Three straight singles by seniors Jade Meehan (Halcottsville/Roxbury Central) and Brooke Corbett (Bethlehem/Bethlehem Central) and junior Caroline Koch (New City/Clarkstown South) loaded the bases with no outs.  After an out at the plate, senior Meaghan knocked in the first run with a single to left field.  She was followed by another single off the bat of junior Amber Badillo (Mohegan Lake/Shrub Oak) who was followed by a double from freshman Marissa Nagel (Averill Park/Averill Park) that brought home two runs.  Senior Amanda Sexton (Port Jervis/Port Jervis) capped the inning by driving in Nagel from second base.
 
Kenyon got one back in the bottom of the first before the Red Dragons scored a single run in the top of the second inning to maintain its five-run advantage.  Sophomore Megan Palmatier (Bainbridge/Bainbridge-Guilford) drove in Koch who singled and stole second.
 
Kenyon rallied again in the bottom of the second plating three runs.  Pitcher Emily Pater drove in a pair with a single to center field.
 
Raleigh knocked in Koch in the fourth to make the score 7-4.  Koch singled, stole second and went to third on a double by Palmatier.  Oneonta added another run in the fifth inning on a single by Corbett that drove in Sexton.
 
The Red Dragons posted a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh thanks to a pinch-hit single by freshman Gianna DiGiovanni (Wantagh/Sacred Heart Academy) and another RBI single from Corbett.
 
Corbett led the offense in game two against Alfred.  The senior collected four hits and drove in a career high six runs to fuel the Red Dragons to a 14-5 win in six innings.  The six RBIs are the most for an Oneonta player since 2010.
 
Oneonta jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning.  Corbett drove in the first run of the game and then Raleigh drove in Koch and Palmatier with a single to right centerfield.
 
Raleigh and Badillo each drove in a run in the third inning to extend the lead to 5-0 entering the bottom of the inning.
 
The Pioneers tied the game in the third with a five-run explosion.  After scoring a pair of runs, Alfred loaded the bases with two outs.  Brittany Fisher walked to force in a run and then Marissa Varela tied the score with a single to drive in two runs.
 
The Red Dragons came right back in the top of the fourth with four runs to seize back control of the game.  Koch drove in a pair and Corbett and Badillo each drove in a single run.
 
Oneonta piled it on with three runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth for the final margin of victory.  The Red Dragons took advantage of a couple of fielding errors and Corbett came through with a two-out double to drive in the final two runs.
 
Junior Hunter VanArnum (Schuylerville/Schuylerville) pitched 3-1/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn her first win of the season.
 
Just the Stats
Corbett and Koch each had three hits against Kenyon.  Meehan, Palmatier, Raleigh and Sexton each collected a pair of hits.  Corbett, Raleigh and Nagel each drove in two runs.
 
In addition to Corbett's multi-hit and RBI game against Alfred, Meehan and senior Kristen Collins (Hicksville/Holy Trinity) each had three hits and Koch, Raleigh and Palmatier each had two hits.  Raleigh drove in three runs while Koch and Badillo each drove in a pair.
 
What's Next
Oneonta will play another pair tomorrow against Wilmington College and Coast Guard at 9am and 11am respectively.