(Canton, N.Y.)- Lyndsay Coppola (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) smacked a pair of home runs helping the SUNY Canton softball team split with SUNYIT Tuesday.  The Roos won the opening game 8-0 and dropped the nightcap 13-3.

The Roos improved to 13-13 overall and have won 12 of their last 14 games.

SUNY Canton made quick work of the Wildcats in the first game as the contest lasted just one hour and was shortened to five innings.  The Roos didn’t allow a SUNYIT runner past second base and rode a stellar pitching performance from Tina DeLuca (Fresh Meadows, N.Y.) .  The sophomore held the Wildcats to two hits and she had one strikeout and didn’t a walk a batter in the game.

The Roos raced out to a 6-0 lead after two innings.  Carolina Olivares (Adelanto, Calif.) and Heather Lottie (Canton, N.Y.) each had RBI-singles in the first inning, and the Roos took advantage of a two-run error by the Wildcats and RBI-doubles from Olivares and Jenifer Shaw (Helendale, Calif.) in the second inning for four more runs.

Coppola blasted her first home run of the day in the bottom of the fourth inning with a deep shot over the left-field fence.  Lottie added an RBI-single in the inning to complete the scoring.

Coppola and Shaw each went 2-for-3 with three runs and Olivares and Lottie collected three hits apiece.

In the second game, Coppola led off the bottom of the first with her second homer to left centerfield. 

The Wildcats broke a 1-1 tie with a five-run third capped by a grand slam from Juleah Vedder, who was also the winning pitcher with a five-hit, three-strikeout performance.

Lottie went 1-for-2 with a double, an RBI and a run in the nightcap.  Colleen Rivers (Bay Shore, N.Y.) added two singles and Danielle Callahan (Kingston, N.Y.) had one single.  DeLuca surrendered 13 hits and one walk taking the loss on the mound.

“We’ve been playing exceptionally well both offensively and defensively and we continued that in the first game but we weren’t our sharpest in the second game which hurt us,” said head coach Diane Para. “But we have a tough team and have many positives heading into our big weekend with Presque Isle.”

Lyndsey Brognano had a single in the first game for SUNYIT and added three more hits in the second game along with three RBIs.  Meaghan McGurn took the loss in game one allowing 12 hits and one walk with two strikeouts.