Cortland, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz resumed SUNYAC Tournament play Saturday in an elimination game against No. 4 seed SUNY Oneonta.
 
The Hawks couldn't find enough offensively, totaling eight hits in what ended as an 8-2 loss to the Red Dragons that saw their hopes of defending a SUNYAC title come to an end.
 
SUNY New Paltz threw freshman Kiran Paingankar who went four innings, giving up five hits, four runs, only one earned, with two walks and four strikeouts.
 
A walk and hit-by-pitch allowed the Red Dragons runners on in the top of the first, but Paingankar got out of the hole forcing a fouled pop up on the other side of the first base bag with Dillon Ristano making a nice catch to close out the frame. Paingankar got out of another jam in the second as well, forcing back-to-back strikeouts before allowing a slow grounder to third, which Fabian Apicella made a good play on, charging and throwing out the runner to strand runners at second and third for Oneonta.
 
Oneonta threatened in the third, earning runners on the corners with one out, but following a mound visit from coach Thomas Seay, Paingankar forced a 4-6-3 double play, as Sarni made a pinpoint throw to first to Ristano to close out the side.
 
However, Oneonta finally broke through in the fourth. Paingankar hit the leadoff batter, but forced a fielder's choice as Ristano recovered a loose ball that got by him to get the force at second. Apicella miss-played a hard-hit ball to him at third, which got past his glove and gave the Red Dragons runners on first and second. Paingankar nearly got out of the inning unscathed once again, forcing the second out on a strikeout after working back into the count at 1-2, but on a 3-1 count, Oneonta's Nick Jacoby lifted a ball over the left field fence to put his team ahead, 3-0.
 
 
SUNY New Paltz answered in the bottom of the inning thanks to preseason All-American Tommy Kreider who, along with fellow senior Michael Ascanio, carried the team offensively in the game. After fouling off back-to-back pitches, Kreider ripped a ball to deep center that hit off the glove of the Red Dragons' center fielder as he retreated back which allowed Kreider to stretch the hit into a leadoff triple. Ascanio followed up with a shot to deep right center just missing a home run, easily scoring Kreider on the double and with the run batted in officially became the single season leader in the category, surpassing the record set last year by captain Michael Boccarossa.  
But the threat stalled there, as Oneonta forced three-straight outs on two strikeouts and a foul out to limit the damage.
 
After giving up the leadoff hit to start the fifth, Paingankar was replaced by Matt Sarni on the mound, but Sarni struggled to start as his first pitch was lined to center. Ascanio made a good effort on the ball, diving and nearly making the highlight catch but the ball was inches out of reach resulting in a double. The Red Dragons produced another double, this time down the left field line, which scored two to bring the difference to 5-1.
 
SUNY New Paltz showed some life in the sixth, started by a leadoff base hit from Anthony Pericolosi. Ascanio brought him home, muscling a ball through the left infield for an RBI base hit. The Hawks continued the rally and had the bases loaded following a Wallace Kirkpatrick single and a walk by Ryan Mackle. Oneonta opted for a pitching change, replacing starter Kyle Roper for Martin Thorsland. Fabian Apicella got ahead at 3-1, but Thorsland won the battle with a strike looking and catching Apicella swinging to get out of the jam and keep the lead at 5-2.
 
Momentum then swung from that point forward toward the Red Dragons. They added a run in the seventh, while the Hawks were kept to a single through the next two innings leading into the ninth. Oneonta then piled on with back-to-back homers in the ninth to create some breathing room. Mackle started the bottom of the ninth with a base hit, but three straight outs closed the door for the Hawks and their title defending hopes.
 
Ascanio led the team at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two RBI and a double. Kreider had a triple and a run scored while Pericolosi went 2-for-4 with a run.
 
SUNY New Paltz ends the year at 27-15 and graduates huge pieces in starters Kreider, Ascanio, Pericolosi, Ristano, along with Mackle, Alex Ouellette, Jason Wall, Frankie Collora, Scott Scheppy.


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