NEW PALTZ, N.Y. - The State University of New York at New Paltz baseball team enters its last weekend of regular season play, when it hosts Ithaca College in two 7-inning doubleheader games on Saturday, April 26, starting at 12 p.m. On Sunday, the Hawks travel to SUNY Oneonta for the final State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) doubleheader of the season -- games that could have significant playoff implications -- starting at 12 p.m.
RECORDS: The Hawks enter the weekend with a 14-18, 6-10 SUNYAC record... No. 20 nationally-ranked Ithaca has a 22-8, 10-2 Empire 8 Conference record ... SUNY Oneonta is 11-20, 6-7, prior to playing a big SUNYAC series against The College at Brockport on Friday and Saturday.
SCOUTING THE HAWKS (14-18, 6-10 SUNYAC): The Hawks split their last two games, winning 4-3 and falling 3-2 to SUNY Plattsburgh... Freshman pitcher
Luke Schuessler earned his first win of the season in the first game of the doubleheader, while sophomore
Christian Huertas earned his third save... Senior
Steven Morse, sophomore
Tyler Bell and junior
Shaun Hansen each had two hits in the first game... Huertas started in game two and threw seven strong innings, striking out two batters and allowing 11 hits... The Hawks faced a tough hurler in Plattsburgh State pitcher, Will Flynn, but Bell and senior
David Lostaglio were able to earn two hits each in the nightcap.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS: Morse leads the Hawks with 31 hits and a .341… Bell leads in RBI (14) and junior
Richard Guido has the most runs scored (15)... Junior Roy Missal has the teams' lowest ERA (1.45), while Huertas follows right behind at 1.49... Senior
Andrew Grann, who was named both the SUNYAC and ECAC Pitcher of the Week after becoming the school's all-time leader in wins (17) with a victory against Plattsburgh, leads the team in strikeouts with 46.
TEAM STATISTICS: In key SUNYAC statistics, the Hawks have the second best team ERA (3.49), third best total hits (261) and have a .950 fielding percentage.
SCOUTING THE BOMBERS (22-8, 10-2): On Wednesday afternoon, No. 20 nationally ranked Ithaca College lost a 4-3, 11-inning game against SUNY Oswego... Oswego's winning run came in the 11th inning... With one out, a ground ball up the middle was thrown into the outfield, allowing the batter to go to third on the error... The winning run came in on a fielder's choice... Previously Ithaca swept No. 13 St. John Fisher College in Empire 8 play... The Bombers won those games 6-5 and 7-6... Jimmy Wagner earned the win in the first game, improving to a perfect 4-0... Junior's Christian Brown and Matt Connolly led the Ithaca offense in the first game, both earning two hits... Sophomore Brandon Dirolo earned the win in the nightcap... Senior Colby Gee leads the Bombers in nearly all categories, batting .367 with 26 RBI and 36 total hits... John Prendergast, who has a 1.65 ERA and eight wins this season, leads Ithaca's pitching staff.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS: Gee leads the team in batting average (.373), slugging percentage (.539) runs batted in (27) and total hits (38)... On the mound, junior pitcher John Prendergast owns the best ERA (1.84), with eight wins on the season, while junior Jimmy Wagner has a team-high four saves.
TEAM STATISTICS: Ithaca bats .294 as a team, with 279 hits on the season... The Bombers have a .963 fielding percentage and a 3.52 ERA... Ithaca currently sits in first place in the Empire 8 Conference.
LAST MEETING: The Hawks last met then-No. 18 Ithaca College on April 27, 2013 in a doubleheader, falling 3-2 and 6-1.
GAME RECAP: April 27, 2013Â
SCOUTING THE RED DRAGONS (11-20, 6-7): Oneonta heads into Sunday's games following a huge SUNYAC three-game series against The College at Brockport that could have a significant bearing on Sunday's doubleheader against the Hawks, which could determine the fourth team in the SUNYAC playoffs… Previously, Oneonta won two of its last three games in SUNYAC competition against Fredonia... The Red Dragons won their first game 6-0, as junior Steve Ascher earned the win and junior Mickey Silberfeld earned his first collegiate save... Sophomore LJ Gizzarelli led the offense in the first game with three hits... In the second game, the Red Dragons won 5-3... Sophomore Kyle Jordan threw a complete game, allowing only five hits to earn his his third win of the season... In the last game of the series, the Red Dragons fell 1-0, tallying only four hits.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS: Junior Matt Mastroianni is batting .327 with 33 total hits, while senior Christopher Orlando leads the team in RBI (30)... Ascher owns the teams best ERA (1.46) as well as most strikeouts (73).
TEAM STATISTICS: The Red Dragons have a combined team batting average of .263 with 248 hits on the season... They own a .958 fielding percentage and a 6.71 team ERA.
LAST MEETING: The Hawks and Red Dragons last met on April 1, 2014, with Oneonta prevailing 6-2.
GAME RECAP: April 1, 2013WHAT'S NEXT: The Hawks head to SUNY Oneonta for a big SUNYAC doubleheader on Sunday, April 27 at 12 p.m… Ithaca heads to York (PA) College on Saturday for a 2 p.m. doubleheader... Oneonta ends its regular season on the road against Hamilton College on Tuesday, April 27 at 7 p.m.
COACHES: The Hawks are coached by first year head coach,
Matt Righter... Ithaca is led by 35th-year head coach George Valesente... Oneonta is led by third year head coach Benjamin Grimm.
