PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – The State University of New York at New Paltz split its games on Wednesday afternoon, first defeating Salem State 9-7 before falling to UMass-Boston 6-3 at the North Charlotte Regional Park.
After going 1-1, the Hawks move to 2-7 overall and will play Lancaster Bible on Thursday at 11 a.m. for the second time during this trip. New Paltz defeated the Chargers 15-10 on Monday afternoon.
Salem State improves to 4-4 overall and wraps up its Southern trip against Wisconsin-Stout tomorrow at 9 a.m. UMass Boston is now 3-4 and will play Farmingdale State at 11 a.m. tomorrow before facing No. 3 SUNY Cortland at 3 p.m.
New Paltz 9, Salem State 7
The Hawks plated three runs in the top of the first and senior third baseman Mike Sparacino (Commack, N.Y./Commack) cracked the first home run in the Matt Righter era as New Paltz held off the Vikings 9-7.
New Paltz outhit Salem State 12-10 with junior catcher Tyler Bell (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) going 4-for-5 at the dish with a game-high four RBI and a pair of doubles. Senior center fielder Richard Guido (Ulster Park, N.Y./Kingston) finished 3-of-4 with four runs scored out of the leadoff spot while Sparacino and sophomore Anthony Diana (North Amawalk, N.Y./Somers) both tallied two hits apiece with Diana driving in three runs.
Junior left hander Jamie Fox (Calverton, N.Y./Riverhead) earned the win out of the bullpen and senior Shaun Hansen (Southold, N.Y./Greenport) earned his first save of the season, throwing two innings of relief and striking out two. Sophomore Brett Wisner (Forest Hills, N.Y./Forest Hills) earned the starting nod and the lefty went six innings.
For the Vikings, designated hitter Javier Morales finished with a home run and two RBI while left fielder Kevin Carens drove in a pair of runs.
In the top of the first, Guido led off with a single and was driven home thanks to a double by Bell. Three batters later Diana cracked a two-run double to score Hansen and Sparacino to hand the Hawks a 3-0 edge. Salem State picked up an unearned run in the bottom of the inning to trim the lead to 3-1.
New Paltz added to the lead in the next inning when Guido doubled and Bell followed with another run scoring hit to plate Guido and give the Hawks a 4-1 cushion. The Vikings answered again, though, with a two-out RBI triple to cut the lead in half, 4-2.
In the top of the third, Sparacino led off with a solo blast to left for his first career long ball and the first New Paltz home run since May 4, 2013 (David Lostaglio) to give the Hawks a 5-2 lead. Bell came through again with another RBI in the fourth to extend the lead to 6-2.
The Vikings tallied a run in the bottom of the fourth off a balk and Morales launched a two-run shot to left in the fifth to trim the Hawk lead to 6-5. In the sixth, Salem State used a squeeze bunt to score the runner from third to tie the contest at 6-6.
New Paltz regained the lead in the top of the seventh when Diana lofted a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Sparacino and giving the Hawks the edge, 7-6. But that lead was short lived when the Vikings recorded an RBI groundout to knot it up at 7-7.
In the top of the eighth, Bell continued his hot hitting with another RBI double to score Guido and hand the lead right back to New Paltz, 8-7. Freshman Chris Moran (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) gave the Hawks an insurance run in the top of the ninth on an RBI single, scoring Diana.
The Vikings led off the bottom of the ninth with a single and the runner advanced all the way to third on a failed pickoff attempt but Hansen remained poised and recorded the next three outs to seal the win for the Hawks.
UMass-Boston 6, New Paltz 3
Despite jumping out to a 3-0 lead after one inning of play, the Hawks were outscored 6-0 the rest of the contest to fall to the Beacons for the second time in four days. New Paltz finished with six hits, with Hansen going 2-for-3 with a run. Sparacino and freshman designated hitter Ryan Bowser (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) both cracked doubles for the Hawks.
Senior right-hander Tyler Mitts (Nanuet, N.Y./Don Bosco Prep) earned his first career start and threw five innings, striking out three. Freshman southpaw Jordan Deitch (Commack, N.Y./Comack) and freshman righty Conor Donachie (Garden City, N.Y./Chaminade) appeared out of the bullpen and hurled two innings apiece, combining for five strikeouts.
For UMass-Boston, junior first baseman Luke Nagle went 2-for-2 with three RBI, including a two-run homer. Junior shortstop Trevor Bouvier notched two RBI and launched a solo shot.
The contest started with the Beacons getting runners on the corners with one out. But Mitts fanned the next two batters to get out of the jam. In the bottom of the first, the Hawks used small ball to score the first run. Guido started the frame getting hit by a pitch and freshman second baseman Chris Amato (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) moved him over with a sacrifice bunt. After Guido advanced to third on a balk, Hansen reached on an error, which enabled Guido to score and give the Hawks a 1-0 lead.
Sparacino followed with a ground-rule double down the left field line and Hansen would score on a wild pitch by the Beacons to go ahead 2-0. Moran ended the scoring for New Paltz by coming through with a sacrifice fly to plate Sparacino as the Hawks led 3-0.
After getting through the second unfazed, the Hawks surrendered three runs to the Beacons in the third, including a two-run homer by Nagle. In the bottom of the frame, New Paltz suffered two base running mistakes to be held scoreless.
UMass-Boston scored again in the top of the fourth on a solo home run but Mitts settled down and forced two groundouts to end the inning. Bowser led off the bottom of the fourth with a double to left field, but three-straight strikeouts ended the scoring threat.
The game remained scoreless until the Beacons tallied an RBI groundout in the eighth to go ahead 5-3. In the bottom of the frame, New Paltz had two runners on with one out after senior pinch hitter Stanely DeLaCruz (Bronx, N.Y./High School of International Business and Finance) walked and Diana cracked a pinch-hit single through the right side. But again the Beacons held the Hawks scoreless. UMass-Boston tacked on an insurance run in the top of ninth to put the Hawks in a 6-3 hole and New Paltz could not rally in the bottom half.