FISHKILL, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz baseball team split its doubleheader with Mount Saint Mary College on Saturday at Dutchess Stadium. The Hawks won the first game 9-1, falling, 5-4, in the nightcap.
The Hawks move to 2-3-1 and will travel down south to participate in the Russmatt Central Florida Invitational from March 17-23. The Knights move to 2-7 and next play Bard College in a doubleheader tomorrow at 1 p.m.
Game 1
In the top of the first, senior catcher Tyler Bell (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) grounded out to third base on a sacrifice bunt to place sophomore right fielder Nick DePietro (Carmel, N.Y./Carmel) in scoring position before a sacrifice fly by senior third baseman Andrew DiNardo (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay-East Fishkill) brought in DePietro for the Hawks' first run. Senior first baseman Chris Baltera (Commack, N.Y./Commack) and sophomore center fielder Jake Williams (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) found home plate to extend New Paltz's lead to 3-0 before the Knights grabbed the final out needed to send the Hawks back to the dugout.
After two scoreless innings, New Paltz produced two doubles in the top of the fourth to send home sophomore designated hitter Chris Moran (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) and junior left fielder Taylor Anderson (East New Market, Md./Cambridge-South Dorchester) for a 5-0 advantage. However the Knights would take advantage of a wild pitch to score their first and only run of the game before the Hawks grabbed two quick outs to end the inning.
Singles by Moran and Williams in the top of the seventh increased the Hawks' edge to 7-1 before singles by DePietro and freshman shortstop Ryan Frost (Beacon, N.Y./Beacon) batted in the final two runs in the top of the ninth to seal the win for New Paltz.
Williams went 3-for-5 at the plate with two runs and tallied two RBIs while DePietro was 2-for-5 with one run and two RBIs. Moran and Anderson were both 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs and tallied an RBI apiece. Senior pitcher Christian Huertas (Bronx, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) pitched six innings to earn the win on the mound, surrendering just five hits and one run while walking three batters and striking out five
Senior right fielder Kristopher Fragomeni went 2-for-4 at the plate with one run while sophomore second baseman Albert Westwick Jr. went 2-for-3. Sophomore pitcher Joseph Pillitteri took the loss, giving up five runs, five hits and four errors while walking four batters and striking out one.
Game 2
New Paltz held a 4-0 lead through six innings until the Knights scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh to take the win.
With sophomore Tyler Laco (Commack, N.Y./Commack) and junior Anthony Diana (North Amawalk, N.Y./Somers) in scoring position in the top of the second, the Knights struck out two New Paltz batters before DePietro smacked a single down the middle to bring in both runners for an early 2-0 lead.
The Hawks added another run in the third inning as Laco batted in sophomore third baseman Tom Read (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) before sophomore shortstop Anthony Pantano (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth to send home Williams for a 4-0 edge.
Despite holding the Knights scoreless for the next couple of innings, Mount Saint Mary loaded the bases in the bottom of seventh before bringing in two runs on two singles to cut the score to 4-2. The Knights continued to keep the bases loaded and would tie up the score as junior third baseman Rob Peccerillo singled to bring in two more runners. After some rearrangement on the field, sophomore pitcher Jordan Deitch (Commack, N.Y./Commack) stepped onto the mound to face the last couple of batters but would ultimately surrender the run that secured Mount Saint Mary the victory.
Bell and Williams both went 3-for-4 at the plate with Williams notching one run and a triple. DePietro went 2-for-3 and tallied two RBIs while Pantano and Laco each went 1-for-2 with one run and one RBI. Sophomore pitcher Ryan Votypka (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) took the loss, giving up three hits and two runs against three batters.
Senior centerfielder Matt Cahill went 2-for-3 at the plate with one run for the Knights. Sophomore catcher Ryan Hayes and junior right fielder Louie DeAngelis were 1-for-3 at the plate with one RBI each. Graduate student pitcher David Hobbs faced four batters and gave up one hit to earn the win.