SCHENECTADY, NY — The New Paltz men’s baseball team tallied twenty hits in the game Wednesday in a 15-9 win over Union. The win ups the Hawks’ record to 13-22-1.
New Paltz started early as they put together six runs in the first two innings. In the 1st , Vinnie Perry (Kingston, NY) scored on a Union error and Jimmy Fisher’s (Bloomsbury, NJ) sacrifice fly scored Tom Bigler (Brewster, NY) for a 2- 0 lead. In the 2nd , Bigler doubled in two runs, Randy Walters (Collierville, TN) singled in Bigler, and Jeff Lackaye’s (Woodstock, NY) RBI-single got Walters home for a commanding 6-0 lead. The Hawks blew the lead though, as Union got six runs in the 3rd and three in the 4th to regain the lead 9-6. After Fisher doubled in a run in the 5th, the Hawks took the lead for good in the 6th as they knocked home four runs. Lackaye, Kevin Smith (Niskayuna, NY), Gus Ortega (Rosendale, NY), and John Behrle (Albany, NY) all had RBIs in the inning. Leading 11-9 in the top of the 8th, Smith’s single, Ortega’s fielder’s choice, and Perry’s single all scored runs to bring the score to 14-9. In the top of the 9th, Lackaye added insult to injury as he blasted his second homerun in two games to centerfield for the 15-9 final score. Jesus Estaba (Brooklyn, NY) got the win for the Hawks, relieving John Geni (Nanuet, NY) in the third inning.
Coach Mike Juhl praised his players for their offensive output after the game. “Offensively, we could do nothing wrong today,” said Juhl. “Defensively, we did not play that well but the bats overcame the mistakes. The top of the lineup did an outstanding job getting on base.”
New Paltz returns to the diamond Thursday at home against Mount Saint Mary at 3:30pm.
