Virginia Beach, VA — The State University at New Paltz kicked off its first two games of the season Saturday in the Virginia Wesleyan Round Robin at Perry Field. 
 
The Hawks dropped their first game against the Alfred State Pioneers, 14-3 before coming back to win, 4-1 over hosting Virginia Wesleyan.
 
"Overall I thought today was a productive day," said SUNY New Paltz coach Thomas Seay. "We saw some good things, but also saw some deficiencies we need to address and improve upon moving forward. But it's great to get the first win of the season."
 
The Hawks looked ready to play as No. 2 hitter Tommy Kreider doubled to center in the top of the first in the opening game against the Pioneers. A groundout from Dillon Ristano advanced Kreider to third base, and he came to score on a passed ball. 
 
SUNY New Paltz's offense continued in the second as the No 7. hitter Fabian Apicella singled. Two batters later, Apicella came around to score on a double down the right field line from Michael Boccarossa which gave the Hawks a 2-1 lead
 
Frankie Collora was on the mound in the first game and had trouble early. In the bottom of the first he allowed a run and three hits. The bottom of the third was not kinder to Collora as Alfred State kept making contact, as it produced five runs and five hits. Out of the five runs, three were out of the strike zone. Two passed balls, and one wild pitch. In three innings pitched, Collora gave up nine hits, seven runs — six earned — one walk without any strikeouts in the loss.  
The offense was quiet for SUNY New Paltz in the third, fourth, and fifth, with only Nick Harvey doubling in the fifth. The pitching continued to falter for the Hawks. Freshman Ryan Knieriemen made his collegiate debut after taking over in the fourth and had trouble as well, allowing a triple to the leadoff hitter and a run on a sacrifice fly. The fifth started just like the third, as the SUNY New Paltz allowed a leadoff single. However, the Hawks came through defensively and withstood any damage as a double play got the first two outs with the team coming out of the inning unscathed. 
 
After a lone double by Ascanio in the sixth, SUNY New Paltz still trailed 9-2. The bottom half was one to forget, as Alfred State added two more runs with a two-run homerun. In a very one-sided matchup, the Hawks did squeak another one run across in the seventh as Ryan Mackle led off with a double. Kreider had his second hit of the day when he knocked an RBI single. The offense stalled there as the Pioneers pulled away as they took advantage of new pitcher Shane Linett. Alfred State registered three hits, two of which were home runs with the second sealing a 14-3 game in a mercied seven inning finish. 
 
Kreider and Ascanio were the lone bright spot for the club as they both tallied two hits each, with Kreider recording an RBI his first of the season.
 
"In game one, what really was the difference was in one team having the ability to throw strikes and control pitching sequences and another team not," said SUNY New Paltz coach Thomas Seay. "I give Alfred State a lot of credit. They played well, pitched outstanding and had a good offensive day. They took advantage of our miscues, which is what good teams do, and they're a quality ball club."
 
Game 2

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The Hawks played the second game of the round robin against Virginia Wesleyan University, and looked to at least earn a win and did just that as they registered their first victory of the season, 4-1 after splitting the day's doubleheader. 
 
In the second, SUNY New Paltz looked to get its offense going. A leadoff walk by Justin Harvey, and a walk by Mackle put two on base. After Justin Harvey got into a pickle and was picked off at second, the Hawks still had a runner on base, and a wild pitch allowed him to get to third. Another wild pitch from the Marlins allowed SUNY New Paltz to take a 1-0 lead.
 
James McGovern got the start in game two and allowed two singles in the first. The leadoff batter got to second, but the Hawks escaped the inning scoreless. In the second, McGovern gave up a leadoff single but racked up two strikeouts and escaped the inning unharmed. 
 
The third inning was when the offense came alive as Ristano pushed the lead to 2-0 on a solo home run. They took the two-run advantage into the  fifth with the Marlins opting to go to their bullpen. Nick Harvey took advantage of the pitching change and doubled to start the inning. Kreider then blasted a two-run homerun to give his team a 4-0 cushion.
 
The pitching for SUNY New Paltz continued to look sharp as McGovern had a one-two-three bottom of the fifth, to keep the Hawks up by four.
 
They were held scoreless in the top of the sixth, but still managed to get on base. A deep fly ball by Kreider looked like it was going to be his second home run of the game but was caught. The bottom of the inning would have a new pitcher on the mound for the SUNY New Paltz, as Liam Ryan took over. Ryan hit two batters, but got a strikeout to get out of the jam.
 
The top of the eighth was a quiet one from the Hawks. Leadoff hitter Alex Ouellette was hit by a pitch for the fourth time in the game and finished the day without an official at-bat. In the bottom half, Virginia Wesleyan  got on with a leadoff walk from Ryan. A wild pitch moved the runner over to second, and a balk from Ryan moved him to third. The shutout would be over when the Marlins hit a sac fly to cut SUNY New Paltz's lead to three. Matt Sarni came in for relief to finish the eighth and close out the ninth. He allowed two base runners and hit a batter, but was able to find the final three outs and secured the win for the Hawks.
 
 McGovern delivered as he went five innings pitched, giving up just four hits, two walks with five strikeouts in the win. Ristanto finished with two hits and a home run, while Kreider recorded a solo homer as well. 
 
"In game two Gov was outstanding," Seay said. "He located his fastball and was able to mix his off-speed in hitters counts. That's what Gov does, he just pitches. I was pleased with our offensive production today, but we really need to play better defense." 

The Hawks are back in action Sunday in Virginia Beach, taking on Penn State Harrisburg at 11 a.m at Perry Field.

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