The State University of New York at New Paltz baseball team has won six of its last eight SUNYAC games, and it will look to keep that momentum rolling into the weekend as it takes on No. 6 SUNY Cortland. The Red Dragons are consistently one of the top teams in the country and this year is no different as they enter the three game series with an 18-game win streak and a 26-6 overall record. A recent schedule update pushed the final game of the series to Sunday, Aprill 22 at 12 p.m. where the Hawks will honor their 10 seniors in a short pre-game ceremony. 

SUNY New Paltz split its doubleheader against Fredonia State on Wednesday, but it was a key momentum shift for the Hawks to take the second game after dropping a 9-8 decision in the opener. Leading 6-3 in the top of the seventh with a runner on base, head coach Arlan Freeman turned to senior right-handed pitcher Jeff Sarra to close out the game. Sarra delivered for SUNY New Paltz, as he forced two straight ground balls to get the save and seal the win.

"It felt great," said Sarra. "Our big thing as a staff is making sure everybody's ready no matter what the situation is. We have to all be on our toes and be ready to get called upon by Coach at any moment. That's just my mindset the whole game, whether he tells me I'm going in or not I try and think about it as if I'm going to go in so that I'm ready for the moment when he says 'Sarra go warm up' and that's what happened against Fredonia."

The win pushed the Hawks back over the .500 mark as they moved to 13-12 overall and 6-5 in SUNYAC play, currently sitting in fourth place. Although SUNY New Paltz recovered from its slow start in the conference, the Red Dragons pose the toughest test to the Hawks this season. SUNY Cortland leads the SUNYAC in batting average, but its biggest strength is on the mound. The Red Dragons post the second-best ERA in the nation with a 1.96. SUNY New Paltz has used aggressive base running and small ball all season long to put the pressure on opposing teams and it will need to maintain that philosophy to crack one of the best pitching staffs in the country. 

"No matter who we play we have to keep to our philosophies of playing aggressive, smart baseball like coach always preaches," said sophomore outfielder Julian Francisco. 

Senior infielder Patrick Shetter is the only Red Dragon to play in, and start all 32 games. The Beacon, NY native is one of their most effective hitters with .361 batting average. However, the entire lineup for SUNY Cortland can swing the bat well with a team average of .307. The Hawks pitching staff has found their stride after holding the College at Brockport to eight total runs in a three game series and No. 7 Rowan University to five runs two days later. The SUNY New Paltz pitching staff will need to continue to get ahead of batters and keep the Red Dragons on their heels to limit their powerful offense.

"Mainly just throwing strikes and getting outs, that's our goal always as a staff," said Sarra. "I think against Cortland, more than ever, we're just going to have to make sure we're throwing it over the plate and really work our breaking balls to get them out however we can because we can't afford to make mistakes on the mound."

Senior right-handed pitcher Luke Christy and junior right-handed pitcher Michael Delio are the hot hands on the rubber for the Hawks. Both pitchers enter the weekend on back-to-back SUNYAC wins against the College at Brockport and Fredonia State, respectively. In his last two outings, Christy has thrown seven innings and allowed one earned run, while Delio has only given up three total earned runs in his last two performances.

The offense received a recent boost to their lineup in junior first baseman Justin Ganca. Ganca returned to the field for the first time this season against Fredonia State after going through ACL surgery nine months ago. Ganca led the team last season with a .343 batting average and was named All-SUNYAC Second Team.

"It felt great to be able to be back on the field and help out my teammates any way I can," said Ganca. "It was a long road getting back, but the support of everybody around me really helped me to get back and it feels really good just to be able to do anything to help out."

The hottest bat for SUNY New Paltz lies in reigning SUNYAC Athlete of the Week, Chris Moran. The senior first baseman has hit four home runs in his last four games and now leads the team in batting average at .359. The Hawks will need more than just Moran's bat to take out one of the best defenses in the country. Senior third baseman and former SUNYAC Athlete of the Week Jake Williams is hitting .355 at the plate and leads the team in RBIs with 24. Francisco also is batting over .300, while senior outfielder Brian Brenton has emerged as a starter in the outfield and a reliable bat, averaging .325 on the season.

SUNY New Paltz takes on No. 6 SUNY Cortland in a doubleheader at 12 p.m. on Saturday followed by senior day on Sunday at a 12 p.m. start time as well. Be sure to follow @nphawks on Twitter and @newpaltzhawks on Instagram and Facebook for updates, highlights, videos, photos and more.