OSWEGO, NY — Former Oswego State Men’s Hockey goaltender David Richer has signed a professional contract with the Les Éléphants de Chambéry of the FFHG Division 2. The FFHG features four separate leagues with a regulation structure similar to Premier League Soccer. At the time the team’s season got canceled due to COVID-19, the group was getting set to play in the regulation tournament to figure out if the team would play in Division I next year. The team finished second in their division this year with 41 points.
Richer played 17 games for the Lakers this season in his senior year. The netminder finished with six shutouts to rank himself first in the SUNYAC conference. His goals against average was 2.20 and he finished with a save percentage of .911. He played three seasons with the Lakers and played in a total of 58 games for Oswego over the course of his career. Richer joins four other seniors to sign professional contracts after their senior seasons this year.
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Men’s Basketball keeps Winning Ways versus Buffalo State
OSWEGO, NY — Men’s Basketball continued pushed their winning streak to five Saturday evening as Oswego rolled through Buffalo State 86-66. The Lakers established an early lead due to freshman Jeremiah Sparks, who netted 16 first half points. Senior Joe Sullivan would finish with 18 points along with 13 rebounds to secure Oswego’s third conference win. This victory also pushes Head Coach Jason Leone into second place on the most wins list for the college. This win ties Oswego for second in the SUNYAC standings and 9-2 overall. The Lakers travel with Women’s Basketball this Tuesday to play New Paltz. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m.
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Softball loses five over hard weekend matchups
OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego State softball team played six games over four days this weekend. A Friday double header in New Paltz against the Hawks was followed by a Saturday double header in Oneonta with the Red Dragons, the team had a day off Sunday, but played another double header at home against the Plattsburgh Cardinals Monday.
Friday’s first game in New Paltz saw the Hawks grab an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Two two-out singles were followed by a triple, bringing that brought both runners home to open the scoring. In the bottom of the second the Hawks would strike again. A two-out double was followed by a single. A throwing error would bring home the lead runner, and another triple would bring home the other runner. No more runs would be scored until the seventh inning, where the Lakers finally found the score sheet. Two one-out singles were followed by Madison Hoeflich reaching on an error, that would score the first runner of the inning for the Lakers. Ellie Mahoney then grounded out the the Shortstop, but would bring home another run. A Samantha Morgan double brought home the third run of the inning for the Lakers, but the scoring would end there, and Oswego fell 4-3. The Lakers only had four hits on the day, no batter having more than one, and a lone walk. Freshman Maria Lutz pitched all six innings for Oswego, allowing four runs, nine hits, two walks, and striking out two.
Game two of the double header was a more convincing win for New Paltz. The Hawks scored one in the first, but Oswego would match the run the second on a Ellie Mahoney single. Errors in the bottom half of the second brought home two more runs, and a two out double in the third brought home run number four for the Hawks. The bottom of the fourth was started by a single for New Paltz which was followed by a double driving home the run. Oswego got two consecutive pop-outs after, but a single drove home the sixth run. Oswego held New Paltz scoreless in the fifth, but three runs in the sixth triggered the mercy rule, and the game ended 9-1 in favor of the Hawks. Zoe Mennig led the Lakers with two hits, and Madison Hoeflich led the Lakers with two walks. Fiona Higgins had a rough day on the mound. She allowed fifteen hits, nine runs, eight earned, and walked three, she would strike out six.
The Lakers took the two hour trip to Oneonta for the Saturday double header. The Lakers found the scoreboard in the top of the first in game one. Tai Smith led off with a walk, and she was moved to second by a sac bunt. Taylor Dubois hit a double moving Smith to third, and a fielder’s choice in the next at bat scored the run. The Lakers held the Red Dragons scoreless until the third inning, when a lead off triple would be driven in by a sac fly to tie the game. Oneonta scored once more in the fourth inning, and twice more in the fifth. In the sixth, a two out single, then stole second and was driven in by a double. Oswego wouldn’t score in the seventh, and the game ended 5-1 Oneonta. Taylor Dubois led Oswego with two hits. Tai Smith got on base three times, a hit and a team leading two walks. Maria Lutz pitched all six innings once again, allowing five runs, four earned, on nine hits and no walks, striking out two.
Game two of the second double header saw Oneonta grab a big lead in the bottom of the first, scoring four. The next run wouldn’t be scored until the top of the third, when Taylor Dubois hit a lead off double and was then drive in by Zoe Mennig’s double in the next at bat. A scoreless fourth was followed by a scoreless top of the fifth, and the Red Dragons broke the scoreless streak in the bottom of the fifth, crossing the plate once. Oneonta grabbed two more in the bottom of the sixth, and the Lakers, trying to rally could only manage one in the top of the seventh, a Zoe Mennig solo shot to left, and the Red Dragons took game two, 7-2. Samantha Morgan led the Lakers, going three for three at the plate. Zoe Mennig drove in both runs for Oswego. Madison Hoeflich got the start for the Lakers, but only pitched one inning, allowing four runs, two earned, on five hits, striking out two. Chelsea Sellars pitched the remaining five innings for Oswego, allowing three runs, one earned, on six hits, and four strike outs.
The Lakers took a much needed day off Sunday, and took to the diamond for two more Monday to take on the Cardinals of Plattsburgh. The Cardinals went 1-2-3 in the top of the first, and the Lakers struck first in the bottom half. The first two batters would get out, then Taylor Dubois and Zoe Mennig would reach on errors. Fiona Higgins drove in both with a double. The second inning was scoreless, and Plattsburgh grabbed their first run in the top of the third on an error. Two more scoreless innings brought the game to the sixth, where the Cardinals struck again. The Lakers committed two errors to start the inning, allowing two runners on base. A single by the next batter loaded the bases, and another single drove in the first run of the inning, second of the game for the Cardinals. A pop out to second got out number one of the inning, and a fly out to center got the second out, but also drove in the runner from third, for the third run of the game and the lead for Plattsburgh. Another single drove in the fourth run, and the walk that followed reloaded the bases. Another single brought home two more, and Plattsburgh got out of the inning with a 6-2 lead. Oswego wouldn’t score after the first, and lost the game. Fiona Higgins led Oswego with two hits and two RBIs. Maria Lutz pitched all seven innings, doing the whole game for the third time over the weekend. She allowed six runs, two earned, do to three errors on the Lakers. Lutz struck out four and walked three during the game
The Lakers finally turned things around in game two of the double header, and the final one of the weekend. The Lakers scored three times in the bottom of the first on hits by Zoe Mennig and Fiona Higgins. Neither team would score until Oswego did in the bottom of the fifth. Fiona Higgins drove in the fourth run for Oswego on a double, and in the next at bat, Madison Hoeflich brought in one more on a single. The Lakers scored two more in the inning on a single and a sacrifice hit, bringing their total to seven in the game. Zoe Mennig brought in one more run in the bottom of the sixth, triggering the mercy rule. Zoe Mennig went 4-4 at the plate, driving in two runs, and scoring two of her own. Fiona Higgins was the star of the day though. She went 2-3 at the plate driving in three runs, and pitched six scoreless innings, striking out six, while only allowing two hits and two walks.
The Lakers get the next three days off, until the play a double header Friday against the Brockport golden eagles at home, game one set to start at 3:00 P.M. They play their final series of the season against Geneseo at home Saturday with a double header. The lakers now sit a 9-22 (4-10 SUNYAC). They are currently eighth in the SUNYAC, two games back of Fredonia in the six seed, the final spot in the SUNYAC playoffs.
PHOTO COURTESY OF OSWEGO ATHLETICS
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Oswego State Softball Team Prepares For Doubleheader versus New Paltz
OSWEGO, N.Y — The Oswego State Softball team will look to bounce back from their most recent defeat to Buffalo State as they take on the New Paltz Hawks on April 27th. They’ll compete in back-to-back games at 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 pm for a non-conference doubleheader. The Lakers are currently on a four game losing streak heading into the pair of games.
Both the Lakers and Hawks come into Tuesday’s matchup with losing records and are desperate for a late season sweep. Oswego is 5-9 which includes a pair of shutouts to SUNY Geneseo and Buffalo State on April 23rd. While New Paltz won their last game vs. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, they went 2-9 in their previous eleven games this season. The Lakers will be lead by junior 1st baseman, Zoe Menning, in Tuesday’s doubleheader. She leads the team in at-bats (45), hits (23), and home runs (3). She also bats a .511 average, which is the highest on the team. Oswego will have to get solid performances out of their talented pitching bullpen to ensure a victory. Madison Hoeflich has a 2.40 ERA and is 3-3 as the Lakers starting pitcher. While sophomore Fiona Higgins has a bit higher of an ERA (4.32), she leads the team in strikeouts with 33. This could be a high scoring contest if Oswego is able to capitalize on New Paltz’s poor pitching. The Hawks bullpen averages a 5.75 ERA and have given up a combined 107 hits this season.
Oswego is in “win now” mode and Tuesday’s doubleheader could change around their 2021 season. WTOP 10 will be at Laker Softball Field for the doubleheader.
