Oneonta, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz traveled to upstate New York Friday, taking on SUNYAC foe Oneonta for a three game weekend series with a double header on Red Dragon Baseball Field.
 
The Hawks (14-9 overall) looked to ride on the momentum of Wednesday's walk off win against Manhattanville. The momentum however slowed in Game 1 as the Hawks fell 6-3. SUNY New Paltz got back on track in Game 2 with hot hitting by Fabian Apicella and using only two pitchers in the 6-2 victory.
 
Left hander Xavier Zykoff was on the mound Friday looking for his fourth win of the season. In the top of the first, Zykoff retired the first two batters on groundouts. Oneonta was not ready to go down in order and lined a double to left field extending the inning. Apicella threw the ball over first from his position at short, allowing the first run to come in to score. The Red Dragons were hungry for a base and stole third. The throw to third went into left field, allowing the second run of the game to score. Xykoff recovered with a strikeout swinging to end the inning.
 
In the top of the third, Apicella redeemed himself with a lead off single. Joe Richetti followed with a SAC bunt to move the runner to second. Playing small ball worked, as Wednesday's walk off winner Tommy Krieider socked a ball to left, driving in Apicella and cutting the lead to one. Two batters later, Anthony Pericolosi cracked a double to drive in Kreider and evening the score at 2.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, Zykoff let one slip away and hit the leadoff batter. A wild pitch allowed the runner to move into scoring position with no one out. The next batter got one in the air to center which allowed the runner to move 90 feet away from home. The bunting game was on for both sides as the Red Dragons decided to lay one down too. SUNY New Paltz recorded the out at first, but the run came across to score as Oneonta went up 3-2.  
The Red Dragons reached base to start the bottom of the sixth with an error by Michael Boccarossa at third. Two batters later, Zykoff had trouble finding the strike zone and surrendered a one-out walk. The runners moved up on a wild pitch, and a sacrifice fly to center advancing both. The run then scored, giving Oneonta an insurance run up 4-2.
 
Zykoff surrendered a leadoff double in the bottom of the seventh. The runner moved up to third on another wild pitch by the Hawks. A groundout to Apicella kept the runner at third from scoring. However that would be moot as the next batter hit one to right for a sacrifice fly. Zykoff got out of the inning with a strikeout to end it as the Hawks trailed 5-2 heading to the eighth.
 
In the top of the eighth, Zykoff retired the first batter with a fly out to center. The next batter was the last for Zykoff as the Red Dragons golfed a double to left. Connor Olson took over from there in a mop up roll. The first batter Olson faced lined an RBI single to left, which gave Oneonta a 6-2 lead as it started to pull away. Olson gave up a single which put runners on first and second with one out. 
 
Dylan Hayes came in for relief, making his fifth appearance of the season. The first batter he faced both runners moved up to scoring position on another wild pitch. Instead of pitching to the next batter, Hayes decided to intentionally walk, loading the bases. With bases loaded and one out, Oneonta hit into a pitcher's best friend, and the Hawks escaped the inning with a double play down four.
 
Justin Harvey led off the top of the ninth for SUNY New Paltz looking to score for the first time in six innings. Harvey got the ball rolling with a leadoff single. Two batters later, Richetti clubbed a double to right center putting runners on second and third with one out. The Hawks were in a perfect spot to cut the lead and Kreider made sure of that, as he clocked a sacrifice fly to center. Harvey came in and cut the lead in half. With two outs and a runner on, Michael Ascanio kept the inning alive when he walked. Pericolosi stepped up as the tying run, but struck out swinging to hand the Red Dragons the 6-3 win in Game 1.
 
Xavier Zykoff was handed his first loss of the season after going seven and a third innings and allowing three hits, six runs, four of them earned, one walk with eight strikeouts.
 
Kreider went 2-for-4 with two RBI. Pericolosi added an RBI base hit. Apicella went 3-for-4 with a run scored.
 
James McGovern was on the mound in Game 2 looking for his third win of the season. Just like Game 1, Oneonta got a base hit in the bottom half with a single to left field. The bunting fest continued in the second game, as a SAC bunt moved the runner into scoring position. The next batter doubled down the right field line to drive in the first run of the game. The Red Dragons added another run on an error by Apicella, extending the lead to 2-0.
 
The Hawks looked to get on the board in the top of the third, and Harvey got his team going with a leadoff opposite field single to right. Two batters later, Richetti grounded into a fielder's choice. Harvey was out at second as Oneonta could not turn two. With two outs, Kreider lined a single to right and advanced Richetti to third. SUNY New Paltz made sure to take advantage, as Ascanio hit an RBI base knock to score Richetti, cutting the deficit to one.  
In the top of the fifth, Apicella continued his hot hitting with a leadoff single to center. Richetti then stepped up and clubled a hit of his own with a double to left center, moving Richetti to third. With two runners in scoring position, Kreider took advantage and hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Apicella, tying things up at 2.
 
Right-hander Matt Sarni took over in his 11th appearance of the season in the sixth. The first batter he faced hit a ground out to second. Sarni then blew a pitch past Oneonta for a strikeout swinging for the second out. The inning stayed alive on a base hit to left, but the base knock did not phase Sarni as a ground ball hit to Apicella took care of the inning.
 
The top of the seventh started like the third with a Harvey single. The Red Dragons went to their bullpen for a fresh arm. The bunt show was the name of the game Friday, as Apicella hit another SAC bunt, which paid off as an error by the first baseman allowed Harvey to come in to give SUNY New Paltz its first lead of the afternoon.
 
The Hawks looked to add on in the eighth and that's exactly what they did. 
Ascanio led off with a base on balls. Pericolosi reached first on a fielder's choice hit to third. The wheels were in motion for Pericolosi as he took off for second and made it with a stolen base. Looking to add an insurance run, Dillon Ristano lined one up the middle to drive in Pericolosi as SUNY New Paltz went up 4-2. Next batter Nick Harvey hit one to right to place two on for the Hawks. Oneonta had some trouble finding the strike zone and plunked Justin Harvey with a pitch, loading the bases. Apicella continued his hot afternoon, taking advantage with a two RBI single to plate Nick Harvey and Ristano, creating a four-run cushion. 
 
Sarni stayed on for the ninth and the Red Dragons shook things up with two pinch hitters. Sarni responded by striking out one, and got the next on a ground out to Apicella, clinching the 6-2 victory and the doubleheader split.
 
McGovern was handed his third win of the year after going five innings, giving up just four hits, two runs, all of which were earned, two walks with three strikeouts.
 
Kreider went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Ascanio went 1-for-3 with two walks and an RBI. Ristano went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Nick Harvey went 2-for-4, while Justin Harvey went 2-for-3 and Apicella went 2-for-3 with two RBI. 

SUNY New Paltz concludes its conference series Saturday against Oneonta. First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. on Red Dragon Baseball Field.

 
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