New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz opened up SUNYAC play with a 10-0, eight-inning shutout win over visiting Fredonia Friday in Game 1 of its three-game series on Loren Campbell Field.
 
The Hawks improved to 7-5 overall, as Michael Weed notched his first win of the year in an ace performance. He tossed 7.1 innings and had a no-hitter going through the top of the seventh and finished the day yielding just two hits, three walks and matched a career-high with eight strikeouts.
 
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the fifth. Joe Richetti led off with a base hit before moving himself into scoring position with a stolen base. Tommy Benfer then lifted a ball to right field that advanced Richetti over to third and after a flubbed catch on the throw slipped away from the Blue Devils, Richetti touched home for the game's first run on the error to give SUNY New Paltz the initial lead.
 
Another error from Fredonia's infield allowed the Hawks to pile on. Following an errant throw on a grounder by Louis Kaleb, SUNY New Paltz placed two on after Matt Sarni followed with a walk. Two batters later, Wallace Kirkpatrick cleared the bases, as he turned on the third pitch he saw and cranked his first home run of the season over the right field fence for a three-run shot to bring SUNY New Paltz's lead to 4-0.
 
Weed got through the sixth on four batters faced with two strikeouts before forcing two flyouts with a no-hit bid still intact to begin the seventh. Kaleb helped out his pitcher on a diving catch on a well-hit ball tailing off into right center. Kaleb tracked the hit well and got his glove underneath for the catch as he registered both putouts to start the inning. However, Fredonia finally capitalized on the next at-bat, pulling a two-out double to the left field fence just out of the reach of Tommy Benfer for the first hit of the game for the visitors. Weed continued to work though, closing out the side on a foul out.
 
 
Fredonia's bullpen struggled in the last two innings with the Hawks adding two more in the bottom half of the seventh before ending the game in the eighth. Apicella scored on a passed ball in the seventh before Garrett Grathwohl notched an RBI single on a hit to shallow center to bring home Kirkpatrick, lifting the lead to 6-0 entering the eighth. After Weed forced a flyout to begin the frame, the Blue Devils worked back into the count and eventually earned a full count walk. They followed on a base hit through the left side, just out of the reach of a diving Sarni at shortstop. Weed was relieved from there by Dylan Hayes who shut down the side. He forced a slow grounder to first base that Grathwohl handed and flipped to Hayes covering for the second out of the inning and again Kaleb showed his athleticism in right, timing a hard lined ball tailing toward the right field wall with the Albany transfer sliding and making the grab for the final out of the inning.  
Benfer stayed poised to lead off the bottom of the eighth and earned a lead-off walk after working back into a 1-2 count. Kaleb intended on a sacrifice bunt but instead registered a hit as his attempt angled past the third baseman charging in to cover, resulting in two on with no outs. After Sarni followed with a walk, Apicella sliced a double to right field scoring two more and moving the lead to 8-0. Apicella was moved into scoring position on a flyout by Kirkpatrick and with the game on the line, Fredonia decided to load the bases on a pair of intentional walks. However, Grathwohl got the job done as he stepped into the box getting enough on the second pitch he saw to lift a ball to left field. Apicella beat the throw as the Blue Devils' cutoff man double clutched on the throw home to finalize the 10-0 win for SUNY New Paltz.
 
The Hawks got production all along their lineup with eight different batters registering at least one hit in the game. Apicella went 2-for-5 with three runs, two RBI and a double to solidify the top half of the order while Kaleb concluded an all-around highlight day by going 2-for-4 with two runs and a double in the ninth spot. Kirkpatrick finished 1-for-4 with two runs, three RBI and a walk, while Johnny McHugh and Grathwohl each went 2-for-4 with the former adding two RBI on the day.
 
SUNY New Paltz concludes its three-game series against the Blue Devils Saturday, starting at 12 p.m. on Loren Campbell Field.


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