CHESTERTOWN, Md. – The State University of New York at New Paltz baseball team held Washington (Md.) College scoreless and hitless through four innings, but the Shoremen plated six runs in the home half of the fifth to help the home team top the Hawks, 14-0, in the season opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon at Athey Baseball Park.
 
Washington ended up scattering 16 hits in the victory, and both teams played a clean game defensively, with no errors charged to either side.
 
New Paltz drops to 0-1 overall with the loss and plays two games tomorrow at Johns Hopkins University, with an 11 a.m. tilt scheduled against Keystone College followed by a 2:30 p.m. encounter with the host Blue Jays. Washington rises to 1-0 with the win and visits Salisbury University next on Tuesday, March 1.
 
Sophomore pitcher Conor Donachie (Garden City, N.Y./Chaminade) was unhittable through four frames of action, as the right-hander allowed just one baserunner during that span off of a hit by pitch in the second. The Shoremen ended up rallying for six runs in the fifth, though, with a two-run home run by senior center fielder Bryan Baquer with two outs capping off the surge.
 
Washington pushed across four runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to provide insurance.
 
Donachie shouldered the loss, allowing four runs off four hits while striking out five in 4 1/3 frames of duty. Junior pitcher Logan Dubbé earned the victory coming out of the bullpen for the Shoremen, scattering five hits in four scoreless innings.
 
New Paltz had five different student-athletes combine for its five hits, with junior left fielder Taylor Anderson (East New Market, Md./Cambridge-South Dorchester) going 1-for-1 with two walks. Five Shoremen posted multi-hit outings, with junior first baseman Evan Hirschbaum leading the group with a 3-for-5 performance that included four RBI, two runs scored and two triples.