Box Score

LEESBURG, Fla. – The State University of New York at New Paltz baseball team defeated State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) foe and top-ranked SUNY Cortland, 4-3, on Saturday morning to clinch its second win in a three-game series in RussMatt Central Florida Invitational action.

This is the first SUNYAC series that New Paltz has ever won against Cortland and the first SUNYAC series Cortland has lost since losing two of three to SUNY Oswego in 2014.

"I'm so proud of my guys for how they have competed all weekend against the defending national champions," said head baseball coach Matt Righter. "Cortland, from top to bottom, is one of the best rosters in Division III, and they're always very well-coached, so we know that we had to play our best baseball to come away with two wins this weekend.

"These wins have been great not only for current student-athletes, but for our alumni as well. Today is a great day for anyone associated with the New Paltz baseball program."

The Hawks improve to 4-4-2, 2-1 SUNYAC and are back in action tomorrow when they play Knox College in a 10 a.m. contest. The Red Dragons drop to 14-3, 1-2 SUNYAC and return home to play Ithaca College on Tuesday, March 22, at 3 p.m.

Despite having two outs in the top of the first, senior catcher Tyler Bell (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) hammered a double to land in scoring position before sophomore designated hitter Chris Moran (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) stepped up to the plate and belted an RBI single to center field to hand New Paltz a 1-0 lead.

Cortland responded with three runs in the bottom of the third. Senior pitcher Christian Huertas (Bronx, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) quickly struck out two batters down the lineup but would place two Cortland runners on base before junior third baseman Steven Figueroa homered to place the Red Dragons ahead, 3-1.

The Hawks nearly made a comeback in the top of the fourth as Moran and senior first baseman Chris Baltera (Commack, N.Y./Commack) landed in scoring position, but two quick outs sent New Paltz back to the dugout. In the top of the fifth, the Hawks made their move as a throwing error by the Cortland pitcher allowed junior left fielder Taylor Anderson (East New Market, Md./Cambridge-South Dorchester) to touch home plate and cut the score to 3-2.

With freshman shortshop Ryan Frost (Beacon, N.Y./Beacon) and sophomore right fielder Nick DePietro (Carmel, N.Y./Carmel) in scoring position, the Red Dragons intentionally walked Bell to load the bases. The inning seemed to be over for the Hawks as senior pitcher Tanner Whiteman struck out the next two batters, but a single to center field by sophomore center fielder Jake Williams (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) brought in Frost before DePietro took advantage of another Cortland error to give New Paltz the 4-3 edge.

The Hawks managed to keep the Red Dragons from scoring throughout the rest of the game to take home the win.

Moran went 2-for-4 at the plate with one RBI, while Williams was 1-for-3 and also notched two RBI. DePietro, Bell, Anderson and Frost each tallied one run in the victory. Sophomore pitcher Ryan Votypka (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) earned his first win of the season on the mound. In 4 2/3 innings pitched, Votypka gave up no runs or hits, walked two batters and struck out four.

For Cortland, Figueroa was 1-for-3 with three RBI, while sophomore catcher Justin Teague was 1-for-1 with one RBI. Senior pitcher Turner Parry took the loss, giving up two hits and one run in five innings while walking one batter and striking out six.