Blue Devils split Fred Fest twin-bill against Hawks

For freshman Dillon Lowe, Saturday’s double-header against the New Paltz Hawks was one that he will remember for a long time. In the span of the two games, Lowe hit his first collegiate home-run, hit the game-tying double, and worked out a game-winning walk.

“It can’t get much better than this right now,” Lowe said after the game.

While Lowe enjoyed the spotlight on Saturday, the Blue Devil baseball team as a whole was forced to deal with adversity throughout the afternoon. The Blue Devils’ bats were silenced in the first game as they were defeated 11-2. The second game would prove to be much more exciting as the Blue Devils won in extra innings, 6-5.

In the first game, the Blue Devils could not figure out New Paltz starter Joel Judson. Judson pitched a complete game for the Hawks, giving up two runs, both earned, on five hits. He also walked four batters while striking out 11.

 The Blue Devils were only able to cash in on two of Judson’s mistakes; in the first inning, Judson walked the bases loaded with only one out. Jon Messina, who reached on an error to lead off the inning, scored from third on a wild pitch to Matt LaPorte to give the Blue Devils an early 1-0 lead. LaPorte ultimately struck out to end the at-bat and Mark Majka followed suit to leave two runners on base to end the inning. In the second inning, Lowe connected on a first pitch fastball for his first home-run over the left-centerfield wall to put the Blue Devils up 2-1.

“I just said to myself ‘don’t swing unless it’s right [in my wheelhouse],’ and it was right there,” Lowe said.

Lowe had three of the team’s five hits in game one, going 3 for 4.

Blue Devils starter Andy Dlugosz suffered his third loss of the year for the Blue Devils in the first game. Dlugosz pitched effectively for the first four innings, holding the Hawks to just two runs and six hits. In the fifth inning, the wheels fell off the wagon for the Blue Devils. A leadoff error by shortstop Don Kirsch set the tone for the rest of the inning.

Dlugosz recorded just one out in the fifth inning as New Paltz exploded for six runs. Justin Nowak entered the game in relief of Dlugosz and held the Hawks’ bats to three runs through their final three plate appearances.

“We have to give him [Judson] credit,” said head coach Matt Palisin. “He settled down and threw a great game. He had great command of the strike zone and made tough pitches. If you’re going to win conference games, those are the kind of pitchers you’re going to need to beat.”

Game two of the double-header seemed to be heading in the same direction as the first game. New Paltz sent freshman sensation Chris Chismar to the mound to start for the Hawks and proceeded to shut down the Blue Devil offensive. Through six innings, Chismar gave up four hits and two runs, only one of which was earned. He struck out eight Blue Devils throughout his six innings of work, 12 short of his season-high 20 strike-outs.

Blue Devil ace Matt Sullivan only lasted three-plus innings, giving up four runs and six hits while walking four batters. Brian Lansing then came in and pitched three innings of shutout ball to keep the Blue Devils in the game.

When Chismar was pulled before the seventh, it was a welcome sight for the Blue Devils as they promptly teed off on Tristan Greene. Kirsch led off the inning with a double and Josh Melquist reached on a walk. With Kirsch and Melquist on with one man out, Lowe stepped up to the plate again and drove in the tying runs to even the game out at four runs apiece. Lowe then reached third on a passed ball to Josh Greco, who proceeded to hit the ball deep enough into centerfield to drive Lowe in. The sacrifice fly gave the Blue Devils their first lead of the game, 5-4.

With the Blue Devils still leading 5-4 in the top of the ninth, New Paltz’s Clinton Boettcher led off with a triple to put the Blue Devils in a very tight spot. Steve Pinckney followed Boettcher’s triple with a single of his own to tie the game at five with no one out. Palisin pulled Brown in favor of Dan Greco, who retired the next three hitters in order to preserve the tie. Herrmann, Melquist and Lowe were then retired in order by Kyle Ochiuzzo to send the game into extra innings.

The two teams battled hard into the 11th inning after the Blue Devils threatened in the bottom of the 10th as the Hawks did in the top of the 11th. It was in the bottom of the 11th that the game would ultimately be decided. Kirsch led off the inning with a triple to give the Blue Devils an optimum chance to win the game with the heart of the batting order due up next. Ochiuzzo then issued intentional walks to Herrmann and Melquist to load the bases and set up a force play at any base. In that situation, who better to have at the plate than Lowe?

As it turned out, no one. Lowe displayed a good eye and plenty of patience to stay in the at-bat and force a full count. Ochiuzzo’s final pitch of the game missed the strike zone and gave the Blue Devils an exciting 6-5 win.

“Lowe earned a lot of respect today,” Palisin said. “He’s earned everything he’s got. He fits right in with the group because he’s a hard-nosed player.”

The Blue Devils have been involved in several close games this year and this one was no different.

“We’ve been in games like this plenty of times,” Kirsch said. “I don’t know how many close games we’ve had this year where [we] got a lead then lost it. So this was nothing out of the ordinary for us.”