ONEONTA, N.Y. – The SUNY Potsdam Softball team (6-10, 0-8 SUNYAC) fell to Oneonta State (5-13, 3-5 SUNYAC) in their road doubleheader Saturday afternoon.

Oneonta used a seven run fifth inning to pull away from the Bears in a 9-3 victory. Potsdam would cross the plate first as senior Amanda Perry connected on a single up the middle to drive in fellow senior Heather Johnson and junior Ashley Thayer. Thayer and company would hold the Red Dragons scoreless after the first inning to maintain a 2-0 lead. Thayer kept the momentum going in the second inning with a single shot to left center, bringing in H. Johnson to claim a 3-0 advantage. Oneonta would finally get on the board behind sophomore Nicole Marzillo's homerun to decrease the lead to 3-1 after two innings of play. The Red Dragons took over from there, scoring nine straight runs in three innings to claim a 9-3 lead going into the sixth. Potsdam looked to challenge Oneonta in the final inning with several runners on base but the Red Dragons would hold to for the win.

Thayer led the Bears with a perfect three for three performance in the batters box and recorded one RBI. The junior completed four innings on the hill and notched three strikeouts. Perry went two for four with two RBIs.

The Red Dragons continued to roll in the final contest, defeating the Bears 5-0. Oneonta struck in the bottom of the first as senior Kayln Deso tallied an RBI single to claim a 1-0 lead. The Red Dragons remained hot at the plate notching four more runs in the second inning to extend the deficit to 5-0. Junior Megan Johnson would come in to relieve freshman Jordan Sarat at the mound and shut down Oneonta for the remainder of the contest. The Bears would threaten with runners in scoring position in the fifth inning but sophomore pitcher Rachel Hitt was able to get out of the inning with the shutout intact. Solid defense by the Red Dragons for the final two innings denied Potsdam of a rally and secured the shutout victory.

Deso and junior Chandler Campbell led Oneonta with two RBIs apiece. Hitt pitched seven innings with seven strikeouts and allowed six hits. M. Johnson recorded three strikeouts in four innings for the Bears.

Potsdam returns to the diamond on Wednesday, April 10 in Utica, N.Y. to face SUNYIT for a 3 p.m. doubleheader.