Box Score (Game 1)
Box Score (Game 2)

WEST HARRISON, N.Y. – A day removed from a non-conference twinbill sweep over SUNY College at Old Westbury, the State University of New York at New Paltz baseball team (2-2) fell twice in a non-conference doubleheader to SUNY Purchase (4-0) on Sunday afternoon at Silver Lake Park, losing, 4-1, in the front end of the twinbill before dropping a 7-6 decision in the nightcap. Only seven innings were contested in each tilt.

Junior pitcher John Schmidt (East Islip, N.Y.) struggled in game one of the doubleheader, surrendering four runs and scattering five hits across three innings of work in his first career start on the mound for the Hawks.

Phil Georges and Austin Groves each scored for the Panthers in the first, and Dominick Simone plated Phil Sanford in the second to make it a 3-0 ballgame. Josh Spielberg homered in the third to put Purchase up 4-0.

New Paltz scored its lone run of the first game in the top of the fourth when sophomore third baseman Matt Prescia (Oakdale, N.Y.) pushed across freshman left fielder Jimmy Briggs (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) with a single.

Schmidt shouldered the loss on the mound for the Hawks, while freshman pitcher James McKenna (Bohemia, N.Y.) held the Panthers scoreless in three innings of relief, dispersing three hits.

For Purchase, Matt Paz threw a complete game, working seven innings. He struck out three and walked three while allowing one run off four hits.

Four different Hawk batters recorded a hit in game one, while three Panther hitters notched two hits.

Purchase pounded out 13 hits in the nightcap, and New Paltz was unable to best the Panther attack.

Sophomore catcher Matt Kaldon (Montgomery, N.Y.) drove in freshman shortstop Andrew Grann (Oceanside, N.Y.) and senior second baseman Dylan Franco (Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.) in the third off of a double to open scoring, but Purchase, behind a three-run double by Sean Lafaye, scored four in the fourth to go up, 4-2. Briggs tied the score at 4-all with a two-run homer in the top of the fifth.

The Panthers countered with three runs in the bottom of the inning, but New Paltz had a chance to go ahead in the top half of the sixth. A double by sophomore center fielder Phil Riccio (Bristol, Conn.) scored junior first baseman Billy Ruggiero (East Northport, N.Y.), and Kaldon drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in Franco with two outs. With the bases loaded in the ensuing at-bat, sophomore designated hitter Michael Pinnola (North Babylon, N.Y.) struck out, leaving New Paltz one run shy of Purchase. The Hawks were retired in order in the seventh, giving the Panthers the twinbill sweep.

Sophomore pitcher Mike Pastorino (Stormville, N.Y.) drew the start on the bump for New Paltz and did not earn a decision, working 3 2/3 innings and allowing four runs on eight hits while striking out five. Sophomore pitcher Thomas Pinnola (North Babylon, N.Y.) was saddled with the loss, giving up three runs on three hits in one inning of relief duty, while junior pitcher Nick Monaco (Medford, N.Y.) held Purchase scoreless in 1 1/3 frames of work.

Brian Thompson got the start on the hill for the Panthers, allowing two runs—one of which was earned—in four innings of action. Brian Angelone gained the win, yielding two runs and scattering two hits in one inning of work, while Miller Lulow struggled in 2/3 innings of relief, giving up two runs on four hits. Kevin McQuade picked up the save, going 1 1/3 frames with one walk and three strikeouts.

Grann led the Hawks at the dish in the nightcap, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Four Panthers had a multi-hit game in the back end of the doubleheader, with Groves' 3-for-3 performance leading the way.

New Paltz returns to action on Tuesday, March 15, facing the College of Staten Island in Staten Island, N.Y., at 4 p.m. in a non-conference single game.