SUNY New Paltz Hawks Split with No. 24 Ramapo

By Ryan Novitsky

READING, PA. –  The baseball team at the State University of New York at New Paltz salvaged a split with No. 24 Ramapo on Saturday, defeating the Roadrunners in game one, 5-1, before falling in game two, 9-3. The contests were held at Alvernia University’s Angelica Park.

The Hawks stay at .500 with a 5-5 overall record and will travel to Bard on Wednesday, March 29 for a twin bill beginning at 1 p.m. Ramapo, meanwhile, moves to 5-7 overall.

Game One: New Paltz 5, No. 24 Ramapo 1

Junior Conor Donachie earned the starting nod and threw 5 1/3 frames to earn his third win this season, receiving five runs of support to upset the nationally-ranked Roadrunners in the opener.

The righty allowed one earned run in the bottom of the fifth off an RBI single and finished his outing with four strikeouts, no walks and one hit batsman.

Junior Ryan Votypka earned the final five outs for the Hawks and struck out one without allowing a hit.

Sophomore Justin Ganca crushed a solo shot in the top of the second to give New Paltz a 1-0 cushion. Junior Nick DePietro scored in the third while junior Anthony Pantano came through with a sacrifice fly in the fourth, plating junior Dwayne Page, to give the Hawks a 3-0 edge.

Page ripped a two-run single up the middle in the fifth, scoring junior Jake Williams and sophomore Ryan Frost, to complete the offense for the Hawks.

Offensively, the Hawks tallied eight hits as Williams and Page both finished with a pair of hits.

Game Two: No. 24 Ramapo 9, New Paltz 3

The Hawks fell behind 5-0 after three innings of play but cut into that hole, 5-3, with runs in the fourth and fifth. Unfortunately, the Roadrunners plated four more runs in the fifth and sixth innings to take game two.

New Paltz managed seven hits in the nightcap, led by a 2-for-4 outing by Pantano, who also enjoyed a two-run single to right center in the top of the fifth.

Pantano, Frost and senior Kyle Gilligan scored the runs for the Hawks.

On the hill, four pitchers appeared for New Paltz with freshman John LoCurto throwing 2 2/3 frames, allowing one run on three hits.