Fredonia Outlasts New Paltz Baseball

FREDONIA, NY — The Fredonia State Blue Devils took two games Friday against the New Paltz baseball team, 9-7 and 13-7.

The losses deal a serious blow to the Hawks’ SUNYAC playoff chances as they slip to 4-6 in the conference with doubleheaders with Brockport (tomorrow) and Oswego (Sunday) still remaining.

In game one, New Paltz made a valiant effort to climb back into the game after falling behind 9-0 in the third inning. The Hawks chipped away at the lead with three runs in the fourth inning, two in the sixth and two in the seventh to bring the game to 9-7 but were unable to get any more.

Randy Walters (Collierville, TN) had three hits to lead the Hawks while Matt Zajdel (Agwam, MA), Rich Bizelia (Massapequa, NY), and Kevin Smith (Niskayuna, NY) added two apiece. Bizelia and Smith each had two RBI for the game.

Keith Roloson (Westtown, NY) took the loss for the Hawks going two and 1/3 innings giving up nine runs on eight hits.

In game two, New Paltz took an early four-run lead in the first inning before the Blue Devils erased it with one in the first and three in the second to tie the game. After a run in both the bottom of the fifth and sixth to fall behind 6-4, the Hawks retook the lead 7-6 in the top of the eighth and looked poised to get the victory. However, Fredonia erupted for seven runs in the bottom half of the inning to complete the sweep, 13-7.

Bizelia finished game two with three hits and Tom Bigler (Brewster, NY) added two. Bigler also drove in three runs and Kevin Smith plated two.

The Hawks will look to rebound tomorrow against a tough Brockport club beginning at 12:00 p.m.