New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz returned home Wednesday on Loren Campbell Memorial Field taking on winless Lehman College for the first time in seven years.
 
The Hawks (16-10) looked to make it three in a row after taking the series Sunday against Oneonta. With strong pitching from Shane Linett and a grand slam from Wallace Kirkpatrick, the Hawks cruised to a 16-1 win in seven innings.   
 
On Wednesday, SUNY New Paltz ran out a secondary lineup, as most of the regulars had the day off. Right hander Linett was on the hill being used in an opener role. In the top of the first, the Lightning lined a lead off hit to get the game rolling, but the base knock didn't bother Linett, as he retired the side with a groundout and two strikeouts.
 
Just like Sunday, the Hawks found a way to score early on. Justin Ortiz led off the bottom of the first with a double to left. Next batter Chris Thorne stepped up, and reached on an errant throw to first from third. With two on and two out, Ortiz came in to score on a passed ball making it a 1-0 SUNY New Paltz lead.
 
In the top of the second Linett surrendered a leadoff double to left. The next batter followed with a walk. Two batters later, Lehman moved the runner to third on an error by Linett. The Lighting then singled home its first and only run of the game.
 
Freshman right hander Nic Kostulias took over in the top of the third in his first appearance of the season. Kostulias made quick work of the first two Lighting with a pop out and a strikeout swinging. Lehman extended the inning with a base knock to left. Koustulias dialed back in and retired the next batter with a pop up to first baseman Garrett Grathwohl. 
 
 
Ryan Mackle led off the bottom of the fourth, and smoked a double in the gap. Mackle moved to third on a passed ball to Grathwohl. On the very next pitch, Grathwohl lined a single to left to drive in Mackle and push across another run to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead.
 
In the bottom of the fifth, SUNY New Paltz exploded for six runs. Christopher Sais got the party started with a one-out single to center. Kirkpatrick cracked a double to right in the following at-bat, pushing Sais to third. Mackle stepped up again and saw a ball squeak by the catcher allowing Sais to cross home. Later in the inning, Nico Batkay lined an RBI single to right, scoring Kirkpatrick and giving the Hawks a 4-1 lead. Right after, Alex Ouellette drove a double to left field. Grathwohl and Mackle trotted in making it a 6-1 lead. The runs continued as SUNY New Paltz batted around and scored two more in the inning, leading 8-1 going to the sixth.   
Freshman right hander Jack Schlager took over in his third appearance of the year. Schlager pitched a scoreless fifth, and continued in the sixth inning. The Lightning led off with a single to right. With one out and one on, Lehman hit a rocket right back to Schlager. He snagged it, throwing to second for the 1-4-3 double play.
 
Eight more runs would come across in the bottom of the sixth as Kirkpatrick picked up where the Hawks left off with a leadoff hit by pitch. Mackle followed, and socked a double to left. Two batters later, Batkay stepped up again and grounded into a fielder's choice plating Mackle and Kirkpatrick, making it 10-1. 
 
SUNY New Paltz loaded the bases later in the inning before Kirkpatrick, up for his second time in the inning, looked to put the game fully out of reach. He hit a shot down the right field line that cleared the wall for his first career home run and grand slam, as SUNY New Paltz went up 16-1.
 
The 15-run cushion was more than enough for left hander Jeff Lundstedt. Appearing in his third game of the season, Lundstedt allowed a leadoff base runner on an error by Batkay. Lehman followed with a walk putting two on with no one out. The first out for the Lightning was a strikeout swinging. Two outs away from a dominant win, Lundstedt induced a 1-6-3 double play to secure the runaway 16-1 win. 
 
"This whole year, our mindset has been to never take any team lightly," Kirkpatrick said. "I think we struck out five times the first time through the lineup, which didn't work but we made adjustments halfway through and then started hitting balls hard, finding gaps and that's what we do."
 
Kostulias was handed his first career win after going two innings giving up no runs, no walks with no strikeouts.
 
Ortiz went 3-for-5 with three RBI. Kirkpatrick went 2-for-4 with a home run, four RBI, and three runs scored. Mackle went 2-for-3 with three runs scored. Batkay went 1-for-5 with three RBI.           

The Hawks head back on the road for SUNYAC play Friday to begin a three-game series against SUNY Brockport. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Clark V. Whited baseball field.

 
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