PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – The State University of New York at New Paltz baseball team played No. 3 SUNY Cortland in a doubleheader on Friday afternoon, marking the first games of the season in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC). The Hawks fell twice to the Red Dragons, 16-2 in game one and 6-1 in game two.
With the losses, the Hawks fall to 3-9 overall, 0-2 in the SUNYAC. The Red Dragons improve to 13-1 overall and 2-0 in the SUNYAC. New Paltz and Cortland will conclude the three-game series tomorrow at 11 a.m. before both teams return north.
Game One (No. 3 Cortland 16, New Paltz 2)
The Hawks surrendered eight runs in the top of the first and were forced to play from behind the rest of the game, ultimately falling to the No. 3 Red Dragons 16-2 in the opener.
New Paltz was able to plate a run in the sixth and eighth innings while recording seven hits in total, all by seven different players. Five pitchers appeared for the Hawks with sophomore right-hander Luke Schuessler (Highland Mills, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury) and senior left-hander Roy Missall (Hemlock, N.Y./Honeoye Central) combining for eight strikeouts in relief.
In the bottom of the sixth, senior third baseman Mike Sparacino (Commack, N.Y./Commack) lofted a sacrifice fly to left field to score junior catcher Taylor Anderson (East New Market, Md./Cambridge-South Dorchester) to break the shutout. In the eighth with two outs, freshman second baseman Chris Amato (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) recorded a bunt single and came around to score on a pinch-hit triple to left center by freshman third baseman Tom Read (Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge).
For Cortland, junior right-hander Brandon Serio earned the win, throwing 6 1/3 innings. Offensively, both junior right fielder Fabio Ricci and junior second baseman Connor Griffin registered three RBI.
Game Two (No. 3 Cortland 6, New Paltz 1)
Senior starter Brian Solomon (New Windsor, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) threw 5 2/3 innings and struck out five Red Dragons but Cortland struck for two runs in the fourth and the sixth to hand New Paltz the game two defeat.
The lefty, while scattering 10 hits, allowed just two earned runs and threw 92 pitches, registering six fly ball outs and four groundouts against Cortland. Freshman right-hander Luke Christy (New York City, N.Y./NYC Lab High School for Collaborative Studies) appeared out of the bullpen and threw 1 1/3 innings of relief.
The Hawks only managed to record a pair of hits against Cortland's staff with junior catcher Tyler Bell (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) and freshman shortstop Anthony Pantano (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) accounting for the singles. Senior second baseman Stanley DeLaCruz (Bronx, N.Y./High School of International Business and Finance) drove in the Hawks' lone run on an RBI fielder's choice in the first.
After the Red Dragons struck in the top of the first, the Hawks had their first two batters reach as senior center fielder Richard Guido (Ulster Park, N.Y./Kingston) walked and Bell dropped a bunt single to third base. DeLaCruz then followed with the RBI fielder's choice, scoring Guido to knot the contest at 1-1.
Solomon was able to get out of a bases-loaded jam in the top of the second, allowing two singles and a walk before striking out Ricci to end the threat. Cortland was able to break through in the fourth, however, scoring two runs on two hits to claim a 3-1 edge.
The next two frames saw the Hawks go three-up and three-down as the New Paltz offense could not get anything started. The Red Dragons tacked on two more runs in the sixth – both unearned – to put New Paltz in a 5-1 hole.
For Cortland, senior left-hander Brandon McClain earned the win, going six innings and striking out six.