Looking to keep rolling after a successful weekend, the State University of New York at New Paltz baseball team will face off against Skidmore College in a non-conference game Wednesday.
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The Hawks are coming off a much needed series win against The College at Brockport, winning their first State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) series of the year with 9-5 and 6-1 wins in game one and game three, respectively, while also losing 9-1 in game two. The victories keep SUNY New Paltz's playoff chances in its own hands, as the 10-10 overall Hawks look to keep improving before taking on a SUNY Cortland this weekend.
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"This game against Skidmore is going to be a chance for us to build off of our solid weekend against Brockport," said SUNY New Paltz junior pitcher
John LoCurto. "This weekend showed us what we're capable of when we play with a sense of urgency, and we're just looking to continue to play with energy against Skidmore to get a solid win that will propel us into the weekend against Cortland."
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The Hawks were supposed to match up with Skidmore College in a non-conference weekday tune up last season, but the game was cancelled due to inclement weather. The last and only times SUNY New Paltz played the Thoroughbreds were in 2011 and 2010, where the Hawks were handed 11-5 and 6-2 losses, respectively.
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Coming into the game with an almost identical record as SUNY New Paltz, the Thoroughbreds are sitting at 10-9 in their 2019 campaign with a 2-6 mark in the Liberty League. After losing it's last two conference series to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the University of Rochester, Skidmore College is on a three-game win streak in non-conference matchups, beating Plattsburgh State 5-4 and the City College of New York 5-3 and 12-6 in a doubleheader.
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With the Thoroughbreds only playing one game at home this season to earn the win against Plattsburgh State, Skidmore College has found most of its success at neutral locations, combing for a 5-3 record in those settings. The Thoroughbreds are currently 4-6 on the road, as the Hawks look to keep chugging through their successful home stand.
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"Going into tomorrow, we just have to keep things simple," said SUNY New Paltz junior outfielder
Julian Francisco. "We've come to know our strengths and weaknesses at this point of the season, along with the fact that we can compete with anyone on any given day. A clean win against Skidmore will be good moment to carry into the weekend and will show a true testament to the consistency we are looking for."
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The Hawks will play Skidmore College 4 p.m. Wednesday at Loren Campbell Memorial Field. To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us onÂ
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