FREDONIA, N.Y. – Coming into this season without a career home run, junior Chris Moran (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) now has three long balls to his credit – including two on Monday at Fredonia – lifting the State University of New York at New Paltz baseball team past the Blue Devils 10-7 at Ludwig Field.
Moran blasted a two-run shot in the first and followed that with a three-run bomb in the fifth. The junior finished the day 2-for-4 with five RBI and two runs scored.
Completing the power surge for the Hawks (10-8, 3-3 SUNYAC) was sophomore Justin Ganca (Merrick, N.Y./Bellmore John F. Kennedy), who followed Moran in the fifth with a solo shot for back-to-back homers.
Overall, the Hawks scored 10 runs on 11 hits as the leadoff through sixth hitter went 11-for-28 with eight RBI while scoring all 10 runs.
Joining Moran and Ganca with two hits were junior Jake Williams (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford), junior Dwayne Page (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Connetquot) and freshman Savino Citriniti (Middletown, N.Y./Pine Bush).
Earning the start and the win was freshman left-hander James Magnuson (Northport, N.Y./Northport), who threw 4 2/3 frames, giving up just two earned runs while striking out three. Junior reliever Ryan Votypka (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) tossed the final 4 1/3 innings, scattering two runs on six hits while whiffing four.
Following Moran's first blast, New Paltz led 2-0 but Fredonia answered with four runs to hand the Hawks a 4-2 deficit.
In the fourth, Page scored on a balk to get within one (4-3) before Moran and Ganca went back-to-back to hand the edge back to the Hawks, 7-4.
Fredonia answered back and got to within 7-6 but New Paltz was able to tack on several more insurance runs to hold on for the win, as the Hawks claimed two out of three games against Fredonia in the series.
Following a triple by Wiliams, the third baseman reached home on a wild pitch while Citriniti came through with an RBI single in the seventh and an RBI double in the ninth to complete the scoring.
New Paltz will return home this week and play on Loren Campbell Field for the first time all season, hosting No. 6 Cortland on Thursday, Oneonta in a three-game set on Friday-Saturday and again hosting Cortland on Easter Sunday in a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m.