PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, SUNY Plattsburgh came through with a walk-off two-run single to hand the baseball team at the State University of New York at New Paltz a 6-5 SUNYAC loss on Wednesday afternoon at Chip Cummings Field.
With the loss, the Hawks fall to 14-13 overall and 7-8 SUNYAC and have one more conference series to play in the regular season at Brockport from April 28-29.
The Cardinals, meanwhile, move to 7-17 overall and picked up their first SUNYAC win this spring (1-11 SUNYAC).
New Paltz will now return home and host two non-conference games from April 21-22 with CCNY and Ithaca heading to Loren Campbell Field.
Despite leading 5-4 entering the bottom of the ninth, the Cardinals started the rally reaching on an error. With two outs and runners on second and third, Plattsburgh came through with the game-winning base knock to left field.
Overall, the Hawks registered eight hits on the day as sophomore Justin Ganca (Merrick, N.Y./Bellmore John F. Kennedy) and junior Nick DePietro (Carmel, N.Y./Carmel) both enjoyed 2-for-4 outings.
On the mound, junior Conor Donachie (Garden City, N.Y./Chaminade) earned the starting nod and went 4 2/3 innings, scattering four hits and allowing just one earned runs while striking out one. Donachie threw 75 pitches in the no decision.
Freshman John LoCurto (Westbury, N.Y./Carle Place) was pegged with the defeat as the righty tossed 3 2/3 frames, giving up two unearned runs.
Plattsburgh claimed a 1-0 lead after two innings, but the Hawks knotted up the game in the fourth as Ganca came through with an RBI single to right, scoring junior Jake Williams (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford).
Freshman Savino Citriniti (Middletown, N.Y./Pine Bush) then followed with a run-scoring sacrifice fly to left, plating Ganca and giving New Paltz a 2-1 edge.
However, Plattsburgh answered back with three combined runs in the fifth and sixth innings to go ahead, 4-2. New Paltz responded in the seventh with an RBI double to left center from junior Anthony Pantano (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale), which scored Citriniti to make the game 4-3 in favor of the Cards.
In the eighth inning, the Hawks notched two runs to take a slim 5-4 advantage as freshman Matt Warshaw (Bohemia, N.Y./Connetquot) scored on a passed ball and junior Brian Brenton (Calverton, N.Y./Riverhead) touched home off a wild pitch.