NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz baseball team will begin its 2014 campaign with a visit down to Salisbury, Md., for a three-game series against No. 11 Salisbury University, contesting the Sea Gulls in a 1 p.m. nine-inning game on Saturday, March 1, before meeting up for an 11 a.m. doubleheader on Sunday, March 2, that will include two seven-inning contests.
RECORDS: The Hawks will head to Salisbury with a clean slate, as Saturday will be their first game of the season, while Salisbury has a 4-1 record.
SCOUTING THE HAWKS (0-0): New Paltz enters the 2014 season coming off of its most successful in-conference season in the program's history within the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC)… New Paltz earned the No. 2 seed in the 2013 SUNYAC Baseball Tournament after going 12-6 against SUNYAC opponents.
STATISTICAL LEADERS: Although New Paltz graduated some key players, there is a lot of talent returning in 2014… Senior pitcher
Andrew Grann will revisit the mound, as he finished last season second in the conference in strikeouts with 58 and 11th in ERA (3.44)… Senior pitcher
Chris Pyz joins Grann in the starting rotation after ending last season with a 3.48 ERA… Senior catcher/first baseman
David Lostaglio, who earned Second-Team All-SUNYAC honors in 2013, tied for the conference lead in fielding percentage (1.000) while also leading the Hawks with a .341 batting average… He also finished with team-highs in doubles (7), RBI (20) and slugging percentage (.512).
TEAM STATISTICS: New Paltz finished the season with a team ERA of 3.68 in 2013, finishing second to Cortland in the conference in the statistical category… The Hawks also finished second defensively with a .969 fielding percentage.
SCOUTING THE SEA GULLS (4-1): Salisbury put up 18 hits in a 17-0, seven-inning win against Washington (Md.) College on Monday, Feb. 24… The Sea Gulls came to life in the second inning, stringing together seven hits to open up a 7-0 lead… Junior outfielder Kyle Hayman drove in two runs along with junior first baseman Bobby Sanzone… Salisbury scored four runs in the third, five in the fifth and one in the sixth… Hayman led the team offensively, going 2-for-4 while driving in three runs… Sanzone also collected three RBI, while he and junior designated hitter Sam Myers both had three hits in the game… Junior pitcher Brett Collachi was awarded the win, working six innings and maintaining his unblemished earned-run average.
STATISTICAL LEADERS: Myers leads the Sea Gulls in batting average (.500), slugging percentage (.667), and on-base percentage (.625)… Hayman has a .409 batting average and has scored a team-best eight runs with nine hits and three doubles... Sanzone has batted in seven runs off of nine hits and has scored six runs… Freshman infielder Pete Grasso has a .500 batting average, a .611 slugging percentage and a .591 on-base percentage… He has scored eight runs off of nine hits and has walked four times… Collachi has a perfect 0.00 ERA after 12 2/3 innings pitched, while junior pitcher Dan Fein has a 4.20 ERA from 15 innings of work… They both have earned two wins.
TEAM STATISTICS: Salisbury ranks sixth in the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) in hitting with a .347 team batting average, and they have a team ERA of 2.30, ranking sixth in the conference.
LAST MEETING: New Paltz had a spectacular comeback on March 3, 2013, as the team rallied for seven runs in the top of the ninth inning to defeat then-No. 6 Salisbury University, 10-9… Salisbury won the three-game series, 2-1.
GAME RECAP:
March 3, 2013 WHAT'S NEXT: The Hawks will take a trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C., to compete in the 2014 Ripken Experience Baseball Classic from Friday-Monday, March 7-10, facing six different teams… On Friday, New Paltz takes on King's (Pa.) College at 12 p.m. and then Muhlenberg College at 3 p.m… On Saturday, the Hawks will face Grove City College for a doubleheader at 10 a.m., before going up against the Catholic University of America at 1 p.m. and Albertus Magnus College at 7 p.m. on Sunday… New Paltz will finish the tournament on Monday with a game against Penn State Berks at 10 a.m… Salisbury will host Wesley College in a conference game on Wednesday, March 5, at 2:30 pm.
COACHES: New Paltz is directed by first-year head coach
Matt Righter, while Salisbury is led by 14th-year head coach Doug Fleetwood.
