Box Score

PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – A five-run fifth inning propelled the State University of New York at New Paltz baseball team (16-12) past St. Joseph's (L.I.) College (16-14), as the visiting Hawks won, 7-5, on Wednesday afternoon in non-conference action at Gregg Alfano Field, extending New Paltz's win streak to six games.

Errors doomed the Golden Eagles, as five of the seven runs they gave up on the afternoon were unearned. St. Joseph's also left 10 men stranded, drawing three walks and pounding out 12 hits.

New Paltz gave up two runs in the home half of the first, but the Hawks drew three walks in the third, which set the stage for an RBI single by sophomore center fielder Thomas Pinnola (North Babylon, N.Y.). After that run, the Hawks pulled within one.

A Charles Zilnicki triple to lead off the bottom of the third allowed Chris Wright to punch an RBI single up the middle, as St. Joseph's pushed the advantage back out to two. Back-to-back errors in the fourth opened the floodgates for a five-run inning for the Hawks, and that ultimately gave New Paltz all it needed to pull out the non-league win.

Brian Hannigan and Bryan Benisvy each scored for the Golden Eagles in the sixth before freshman left fielder Jimmy Briggs (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) tacked on an insurance run for the Hawks in the ninth, plating sophomore center fielder Phil Riccio (Bristol, Conn.).

Junior pitcher John Schmidt (East Islip, N.Y.) got the start on the mound for New Paltz, but he did not register a decision. He allowed three runs off seven hits and struck out one across three innings of work before handing the ball off to senior pitcher Brett Harrison (Merrick, N.Y.). Harrison, who gained the victory, permitted two runs on three hits and three walks with one strikeout over 2 1/3 frames of duty. Freshman pitcher Chris Pyz (Kings Park, N.Y.), junior pitcher Timmy Chelius (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) and freshman pitcher James McKenna (Bohemia, N.Y.) combined to toss 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, scattering just two hits in total. McKenna received credit for the save, as he retired the side in order in the ninth.

Michael Napoli was handed the loss for St. Joseph's, giving up six runs—two of which were earned—off four hits and four walks. He also struck out three. Justin Maravegias threw the final five innings for the Golden Eagles and yielded one unearned run off five hits and a walk.

Offensively, junior right fielder Mike Sherlock (Liverpool, N.Y.) broke out of his funk, going a perfect 2-for-2 at the dish with one run scored and one RBI. Pinnola also fared well at the plate, batting 2-for-3 with two RBI. For St. Joseph's, Dennis Nover (2-for-3), Zilnicki (2-for-4), Benisvy (2-for-4) and James Carey (2-for-3) all had multi-hit performances.

The Hawks look to hold their positioning in the league standings this weekend, taking on SUNY Fredonia in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) three-game set in Fredonia, N.Y. New Paltz has a noon doubleheader against the Blue Devils on Friday, April 22, before closing out the series with a noon contest on Saturday, April 23.