WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The State University of New York at New Paltz baseball team drew a 12-12 tie with Springfield College on Thursday afternoon to kick off its week at the Russmatt Central Florida Invitational. 

The Hawks move to 2-3-2 on the season and return to action tomorrow when they face State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) foe SUNY Cortland in a doubleheader at 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. Springfield moves to 3-2-1 and will play Colby-Sawyer College in a twin bill tomorrow at 1 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Despite Springfield leading with a 3-0 advantage heading into the bottom of the second, junior left fielder Taylor Anderson (East New Market, Md./Cambridge-South Dorchester) and sophomore catcher Spencer Brown (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) each plated an RBI single to slice the deficit to 3-2. The Hawks would level the score to 3-all with Anderson finding home as senior designated hitter Tyler Bell (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) hit into a double play.

The Pride extended its advantage to 5-3 in the top of the third as freshman first baseman Brandon Drabinski plated a double to bring in two more runs before scoring a run of his own on a single by sophomore second baseman Joey Gamache for a 6-3 tally.

The Hawks responded in kind as junior first baseman Anthony Diana (North Amawalk, N.Y./Somers), sophomore center fielder Jake Williams (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) and sophomore second baseman Anthony Pantano (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) each notched a run to even the score to 6-all before taking their first lead of the game, 8-6, as Bell singled to bring home Brown and sophomore pinch runner Brian LoRusso (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) scored on a Springfield error.

New Paltz extended its lead to 9-6 in the bottom of the fourth on a run by Williams before Pantano hammered out a triple in the bottom of the fifth to put up two more runs for the Hawks. Senior pinch runner Kyle Gilligan(Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) notched the final run to round out the inning with a comfortable 12-6 advantage.

The Pride came back fighting in the top of the sixth, scoring three times to chop the score to 12-9 before adding another run in the top of the seventh to make it a 12-10 game. The Hawks were unable to find another scoring opportunity as Springfield leveled the playing field to 12-all in the top of the eighth. New Paltz managed to keep the score locked in a tie throughout the ninth inning until the game was called due to darkness.

The Hawks belted out 15 hits for the day while making only two errors. Pantano went 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs, two RBIs, and a triple. Brown was 3-for-4 at the plate while Anderson went 2-for-4, each notching one run and one RBI. Bell and freshman shortstop Danny Campbell (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) tallied one run apiece in the Hawks' efforts.

Drabinski led the Pride, going 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs and four RBIs. Gamache notched three RBIs while senior right fielder Billy Peterson tallied two RBIs.