Annandale, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz routed hosting Bard Wednesday afternoon, 18-3.
 
The Hawks won their third straight following the result and improved to 4-3 overall, while the Raptors dropped to 2-3.
 
SUNY New Paltz handled the hosts from the opening inning and had one of its most prolific offensive performance of the season, as 10 different players registered at least one hit and eight others helped bat runners in.
 
The pitching staff was also impressive, combining to give up just four hits and two walks. The only three runs allowed came in the first inning, which tied the game at 3-3. However, the Hawks settled in from there and continued producing runs in each of the next three frames.
 
Robert Gregory officially re-took the lead for SUNY New Paltz, rocking a solo home run, his first of the year, with one out in the second inning. Matt Sarni added an insurance run in the inning, getting on with a four-pitch walk and following a stolen base and consecutive wild pitches reached home to extend the lead 5-2.
 
Bard struggled finding the strike zone in the third and SUNY New Paltz took advantage as two runs in the frame were due to wild pitches before Fabian Apicella brought in two more on a double to left, which plated Sarni and Nico Batkay.  
The Hawks broke the game open in the fourth with a seven-run inning that created a 16-3 cushion. Tommy Poggi started the run with a double down the left-field line. Joe Richetti brought him home two batters later on an RBI single. Batkay and Sarni each had back-to-back RBI on a sac fly and single to left, respectively. Wallace Kirkpatrick added to the lead with a two-RBI single that brought Apicella and Sarni home with Poggi coming back to bat for the second time in the inning and recording an RBI ground out to cap the stanza.
 
Freshman Tommy Benfer belted his first career home run to add another run for SUNY New Paltz in the seventh. Freshman Nathan Pimentel capped the scoring on the night, as he led off with a single and eventually got home on a wild pitch three batters later.
 
Tyler Lopez earned the start and the win going two innings. Austin Barrett, Linus Oudom and Dylan Thomasson each threw two innings apiece and were near flawless, allowing just one hit among them with Barrett adding two strikeouts, Oudom three and Thomasson one.
 
Sarni scored four times and added a hit, an RBI, a walk and three stolen bases. Ryan Muskopf went 2-for-4 with two runs and two walks. Poggi went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI, including two doubles. Apicella finished with a double, a run scored two RBI and two walks, while Kirkpatrick finished 2-for-3 with a run scored, a walk and a team-leading three RBI.
 
SUNY New Paltz is back in action this weekend, facing Kean in Union, New Jersey for a single game starting at 11 a.m. before concluding the weekend with a doubleheader against Westfield State Sunday on the campus of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.


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