Coming off of its trip to Florida, the State University of New York at New Paltz baseball team looks to return to New York weather with a win on the road against New York University Wednesday.

The Hawks already beat the Violets during their trip to  Florida this year, topping NYU 5-4 in a comeback thriller. Down 4-0 early in the game, momentum swung for SUNY New Paltz in the bottom of the fifth inning, when sophomore first baseman Dean Stalzer hit a three-run home run to bring the Hawks behind, 4-3. Waking up after the yardball, the Hawks offense continued in the sixth inning with senior outfielder Danny Campbell hitting an RBI double to tie the game at four. In the bottom of the eighth, a fielder's choice on a error scored junior outfielder Julian Francisco, giving SUNY New Paltz its first lead of the game and the 5-4 win. 

"[NYU] brings big energy while they're on the bench and we can't be intimidated by that," Francisco said. "Sometimes midweek game opponents aren't as strong, but I think NYU is a good set up going into Oswego. As long as we stay composed throughout the whole game, I think we'll catch the dub."

SUNY New Paltz hopes break will allow the team to come back rejuvenated after the long Florida trip. Multiple weather cancellations put a stutter to the Hawks' season at first, but now SUNY New Paltz will play around four games a week to complete its schedule.

Prior to their success this year, the Hawks have competed with New York University in recent years as well, sweeping the Violets 6-1 and 3-0 in 2016, while losing 4-2 in SUNY New Paltz's' first game of the season last year. New York University opened its 2019 schedule with five straight non-conference wins, currently sitting at 10-3 on the year. With an overall record of 28-12 in 2018, the Violets were only 6-10 in the University Athletic Association (UAA) last season.

The Hawks non-conference tune up will be their last game before they endure State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play this weekend. SUNY New Paltz will host its first home games of the season March 29-30 against Oswego State.

"Honestly, as long as we play good defense and throw strikes, we just have to come out with a lot of energy to get the win" said junior outfielder Matt McGee. "Last time [against NYU] we kind of waited a little bit, and I think this time we just have to come right out the shoot."

SUNY New Paltz matches up with NYU at 4 p.m. in Brooklyn, New York Wednesday. To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks,Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.