Baseball Drops Two Against SUNY New Paltz in Hartford

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State baseball dropped a non-conference doubleheader to SUNY New Paltz with scores of 16-1 and 12-7 from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. on Sunday afternoon.

The Owls, playing their fourth game of the weekend, fall to 2-8 on the season while the Hawks improve to 6-4 overall.

Westfield fell behind early in game one and were unable to climb out of the deficit. The Hawks piled up eight runs over the first three innings with Johnny McHugh tripling to left center, followed by a fielder's choice by Joe Richetti and a run-scoring single from Tommy Benfer giving New Paltz an 8-1 lead.

Chase Racine (Pittsfield, Mass.) tallied the Owls lone run in the first inning of game one, depositing a single into centerfield to score Will Winiarski (Suffield, Conn.).

A sixth run fifth inning for the Hawks put the game in run rule territory where the opener ultimately ended after seven innings. Jack Novak (Colchester, Conn.) was saddled with the loss in game one as the Owls threw six different arms in the contest. Kiran Paingankar registered the victory for the Hawks, covering six innings while giving up one run on six hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

In game two, it was the Owls that jumped out to an early lead. Sam Palmer (Medfield, Mass.) began the scoring by blasting a shot into the right centerfield gap for a one-out triple, scoring Colin Ryan (Chelmsford, Mass.) in the first inning.

The Hawks scored twice in the top half of the second to go ahead, but Westfield strung together a productive home half to regain the advantage. With two runners on, Nick Lenfest (Westfield, Mass.) drove a 0-1 pitch into right centerfield, bouncing down between two outfielders for a two-run double and a 3-2 Owls lead.

Ryan followed and lined a single into left to plate Lenfest, then a single from Connor Benvenuto (New City, N.Y.), Palmer recorded his second RBI in as many innings with a sacrifice fly, capping a four-run frame to stake Westfield with a 5-2 lead.

The Owls did not score over the next three innings, allowing the Hawks to chip away and eventually take the lead. In the sixth frame, Fabian Apicella's infield single scored the go-ahead run, then a sac fly from Wallace Kirkpatrick supplied New Paltz with an insurance run, taking a 7-5 lead into the bottom of the sixth.

Westfield started a two-out rally in the sixth, with Ryan and Benvenuto singling to send Palmer to the plate who capitalized by doubling to left centerfield to trim the deficit to one run. The Owls loaded the bases with two outs in the inning, but could not get any additional scoring in the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Owls loaded the bases again after a pair of walks. With two down in the frame, Dashel O'Dell (Suffield, Conn.) was called upon to pinch hit, but just got under the pitch and lofted a fly ball to left for the third out.

Traffic on the basepaths continued in the eighth inning after the Hawks scored a run in the top half to take a two-run lead. Palmer and Racine roped back-to-back singles. Antonio Scalise (Pittsfield, Mass.) worked a one-out walk to load the bases for a third consecutive inning. Kaen Smith (Washingtonville, N.Y.) plated one run on a fielder's choice, but that was all the Owls could muster.

Palmer was a home run shy of the cycle.

New Paltz blasted the game open in the ninth inning by scoring four runs, upping the lead to five runs which was ultimately too much to overcome.

The Owls were doomed by free passes throughout the day and despite outhitting the Hawks 13-7 in game two, the pitching staff accumulated 12 walks. Westfield also left 14 runners on in the second game. Linus Oudom settled the Hawks staff and picked up the win after four one-run frames in relief.   

Westfield State will prepare for a three-game series at Montclair State starting on Friday at 3:00 P.M.