The baseball team began State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play by dropping two of three games against then-No. 13 SUNY Oswego from Monday, April 3 to Tuesday, April 4. The games were played at Bard College due to poor field conditions of Loren Campbell Memorial Field.
The Hawks won the first game of the doubleheader on Monday, beating the Lakers by a score of 7-5. This marked New Paltz’s first victory over Oswego since April 5, 2014 when the Hawks won by a score of 5-4.
The Lakers held a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the fourth inning, but New Paltz scored a run in the fourth and three in the sixth to take a 5-4 lead. Oswego tied the game 5-5 in the seventh, but the Hawks scored a run in their half of the inning and another in the eighth to seal the victory.
Third-year co-captain Conor Donachie started the game for New Paltz and gave up three earned runs in five innings of work. Third-year pitcher Ryan Votypka earned his first win of the season, as he tossed three perfect innings in relief and struck out two batters.
Third-year co-captain Dwayne Page led the offense with a 2-for-3 performance and two RBIs. Third-year third baseman Jake Williams also drove in two runs, while third-year co-captain Chris Moran and third-year second baseman Anthony Pantano each recorded multi-hit games.
“Winning the first game was definitely a positive,” Hawks fourth-year first baseman Anthony Diana said. “Although we would have loved to win the series I think we definitely proved to ourselves and everyone in the conference that we can not only hang with the best, but beat them, too.”
Later in the day, the Hawks lost by a score of 6-2. Third-year pitcher Brian LoRusso started the game and sustained his second loss of the season, giving up four earned runs in 4 1/3 innings of work while striking out four.
Page and second-year first baseman Justin Ganca each went 2-for-3 on the day, with Ganca recording an RBI single. Moran also added an RBI with a solo home run, the first of his collegiate career.
The following day New Paltz lost their second-straight game to Oswego by a score of 6-4. The Lakers were victorious despite managing just three hits in the contest.
Second-year pitcher Justin Stybel started the game and surrendered three earned runs on one hit in three innings of work while striking out three.
Ganca recorded his second-straight multi-hit game, going 2-for-4. Williams and second-year shortstop Ryan Frost each recorded an RBI in the loss.
Hawks fourth-year outfielder Taylor Anderson noted the team has the ability to string together multiple wins, but have yet to do so, and need to in order to be successful.
“Carrying momentum from a big win into the next game is one of the hardest things to do, but we have to learn to do it if we want to be a championship-type team,” Anderson said. “In my four years here that has been the single most difficult problem we have yet to overcome.”
The Hawks now hold a record of 8-7 and will continue SUNYAC play this weekend with three road matchups against SUNY Fredonia from Sunday, April 9 to Monday, April 10 before hosting a doubleheader against No. 6 SUNY Cortland on Sunday, April 16.
“Although we didn’t get the exact results we were looking for [against Oswego], we kept our positive energy throughout all the games,” Diana said. “Conference games are what matter the most and I think we set the tone well and are in good shape going forward.”