Friday-Saturday, March 21-22, 2014: New Paltz (8-8) vs. No. 8 Cortland (10-4) Friday, March 21, at 10 a.m. Friday, March 21, at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 22, at 12 p.m. Ithaca, N.Y. (at Cornell University)
Game Coverage	Live Stats
New Paltz Links	Home Page | Roster | Schedule/Results | Stats
Cortland Links	Home Page | Roster | Schedule/Results | Stats

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz baseball team will go right from its Florida Spring Break trip to a conference weekend in central New York, as the Hawks open up their State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) slate with a three-game series against No. 8 SUNY Cortland at Cornell University's David F. Hoy Field in Ithaca, N.Y. The two teams will play twice on Friday, March 21, with a 10 a.m. contest to be followed by a second game at approximately 3 p.m. The weekend will conclude with a 12 p.m. game on Saturday, March 22.
 
RECORDS: New Paltz enters this weekend with an 8-8 overall record, while Cortland is 10-4 overall.
 
SCOUTING THE HAWKS (8-8): New Paltz split on each day it competed at the Snowbird Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla., returning North with an 8-8 overall record that included a number of games against nationally-relevant teams… The Hawks faced two nationally-ranked teams down in Florida in then-No. 10 Marietta College and No. 15 Birmingham-Southern College… New Paltz went 0-2 in those games, but it did knock off Otterbein University, a team that received votes in the most recent D3baseball.com Top-25 Poll on Tuesday, March 18.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS: Senior Kenny Gentile leads the team in batting average (.429) for the season, but with only 14 at-bats on the season, Gentile does not qualify to be among the SUNYAC leaders in the statistical category… Junior Shaun Hansen ranks second on the team and fourth in the SUNYAC in batting average (.424), while senior Steven Morse and sophomore Andrew DiNardo are hitting .386 and .383, respectively...  Hansen also leads the SUNYAC in doubles (7)… The Hawks have been active on the base paths this year, with junior Richard Guido, sophomore Tom Dieckhoff and junior Stanley DeLaCruz ranking first (10), second (7) and third (6) in the conference in stolen bases, respectively… Pitching-wise, several different student-athletes have taken to the mound this spring, with junior Roy Missall leading the way with a 0.00 ERA across 8 2/3 innings pitched… Missall has a .143 opposing batting average and has struck out four batters… Sophomore Christian Huertas, junior Brian Solomon and senior Andrew Grann have shouldered the bulk of the innings, with Huertas' 0.61 ERA and a 2-0 record leading the bunch… Solomon has been solid, too, with a 2.46 ERA and a .246 opposing batting average, while Grann has a team-high 14 strikeouts.

TEAM STATISTICS: New Paltz ranks second in the SUNYAC in ERA (3.60) and has held its opponents to a .260 batting average… The Hawk offense is ranked fourth in the conference with a .299 batting average, and the team has stolen a conference-leading 38 bases… New Paltz is tied for 23rd in NCAA Division III in stolen bases through games ending on March 16.
 
SCOUTING THE RED DRAGONS (10-4): Cortland has challenged itself with a daunting schedule so far this spring, boasting signature wins over Montclair State University, Christopher Newport University, Salisbury University, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Wheaton (Mass.) College… The Red Dragons went 5-2 down at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational and dropped a 13-10 decision to Shenandoah University in Virginia on their way back to Cortland.
 
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS: Senior Bryan Marotta leads the SUNYAC in hitting with a .588 batting average… Senior Max Rosing paces the SUNYAC and is 11th in NCAA Division III in triples with three, while senior Anthony Iacomini boasts a SUNYAC-leading 14 RBI… Sophomore Brandon Serio leads the team and ranks third in the SUNYAC in ERA (1.54), while junior Brandon McClain ranks sixth in the SUNYAC in ERA (2.39)… Serio and McClain rank first (29) and second (28), respectively, in the SUNYAC in strikeouts… Senior Steve Komanecky already has a conference-leading three saves on the season.
 
TEAM STATISTICS: Cortland leads the SUNYAC in batting average (.343), slugging percentage (.506), on-base percentage (.425), walks (52) and hit by pitches (25)… The Red Dragons also rank fourth in the conference in ERA (3.83) and lead the SUNYAC in strikeouts (111).
 
LAST MEETING: Cortland swept a three-game set from New Paltz last year… The Red Dragons won, 8-1, on March 23, 2013, and took a doubleheader by scores of 5-1 and 6-2 on March 24, 2013... Game recaps from those contests are below.

GAME RECAPS:
March 23, 2013
March 24, 2013

WHAT'S NEXT: New Paltz next faces Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., on Wednesday, March 26, at 3 p.m., while Cortland next meets up with SUNYIT on Tuesday, March 25, at 3:30 p.m.
 
COACHES: New Paltz is led by first-year head coach Matt Righter… Cortland is directed by 15th-year head coach Joe Brown.