NEW PALTZ – The Oneonta State baseball team went on the road today and picked up an 11-7 win against New Paltz in the first of a three-game SUNYAC series. New Paltz (14-9/2-3 SUNYAC) rallied with four runs in the ninth inning and had the tying run at the plate, but came up short.
Hitters five through nine in the Oneonta (12-10/5-3 SUNYAC) order combined for 10 of the team's 15 hits while scoring eight of the 11 runs in the game. The No. 9 hitter,
Rob Peluso (Rensselaer/Columbia), had three hits and scored a pair of runs. Matching his three-hit performance was senior
Ivan Plata (Guilderland/Guilderland), who added two runs batted in.
Senior
Chris Tyson (Niskayuna/Niskayuna) went eight innings today allowing three earned runs and 10 hits in running his record to 3-1 on the season.
Oneonta scored the game's first run in the top of the second inning on an RBI single by senior
Eric Wells (Athens, PA/Athens).
New Paltz came back in the bottom of the inning with a pair of runs to take its only lead of the game. Junior catcher Matt Kaldon and sophomore Anthony Repetto each reached base on singles with one out in the inning, and both came around to score on a double to left-center field by senior Paul Merola.
Oneonta took back the lead in the top of the third on a two-run home run by
Matt Salvatore (Staten Island/Staten Island), his first of the season. The Red Dragons stretched its winning margin to a 9-2 score by the end of the seventh inning. Oneonta took advantage of a throwing error in a three-run sixth inning that scored a pair of runs while junior
Dean Haussel (Sound Beach/Miller Place) hit an RBI single to account for the final run of the inning.
With only three outs remaining, New Paltz staged a comeback. Merola walked after working a full count to begin the inning before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Junior center fielder Matt Carr sent Merola to third with a single through the left side. In the Hawks' next at-bat, senior designated hitter Mike Marash sent a line-drive to the second baseman, who could not handle it, causing an error and scoring Merola. A single to left center by senior first baseman Jake Cameron sent Carr home and advanced Marash to second base.
After a fielder's choice in Prescia's at-bat erased Cameron and put Marash on third base, Thomas Pinnola's ground-rule double scored Marash, sent Prescia to third and got the Hawk faithful stirring, with New Paltz now only trailing by five runs. After a pitching change, Kaldon loaded the bases after being plunked on a 1-0 count. Two pitches later, Repetto was also hit by a pitch, forcing in the Hawks' seventh run and bringing the tying run to the plate in senior second baseman Chris Paulicelli. After fighting off multiple pitches, Paulicelli was unlucky and lined into an unassisted double play to the second baseman to end the game.
The action between these two teams continues tomorrow, Saturday, April 7, when New Paltz hosts Oneonta at Loren Campbell Field for a SUNYAC doubleheader. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 12 p.m.
