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OLD WESTBURY, NY (www.oldwestburypanthers.com) – The SUNY College at Old Westbury baseball team defeated the New Paltz Hawks for the second time in as many seasons by the final score of 8-1 on Thursday evening at the Jackie Robinson Athletic Complex in a non-conference SUNY matchup. The win is Old Westbury's fifth straight and improved the Panthers to 17-16 on the season while the Hawks dropped to 17-13. 

Senior lefty Dan Fordyce threw a complete-game four hitter to improve to 3-3 on the season and recorded his 13th career victory. Fordyce walked just one Hawk batter and fanned nine, increasing his team-lead in strikeouts to 53 on the season. Brett Harrison took the loss for New Paltz, allowing three runs on eight hits and two walks in six innings on the mound. Timmy Chelius worked the seventh and eighth innings in relief of Harrison, surrendering five runs on eight hits. 

Six Panthers recorded multiple hits, led by Albert Bevacqua and Melvin Simmons, who each had three on the day. Simmons and #Giovanni Jimenez each scored twice while Jimenez, Bevacqua and Josef Schaetzle went clubbing, driving in two runs each. Paul Merola (2-for-4) and Michael Pinnola (2-for-4) each collected two hits to lead the offensive strike for New Paltz. 

OW starter Dan Fordyce retired the first two New Paltz batters on strikes and got the third to ground out. Old Westbury jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the bottom of the first. The Panthers platted the first on an RBI single up the middle by Josef Schaetzle, that scored Melvin Simmons and Albert Bevacqua. 

Up 2-0, Fordyce went to work on the Hawk lineup allowing just one hit through the first three innings. Giovanni Jimenez scored Old Westbury's third run on a single through the right side by Josef Schaetzle in the third inning. 

New Paltz broke into the scoring column in the fourth on a single by Michael Pinnola that drove in Paul Merola for their lone run of the game. 

Old Westbury tacked on three more runs in the seventh on an RBI single by Giovanni Jimenez and a double down the left field line by Albert Bevacqua that scored two Panthers. Two more runs crossed the plate for Old Westbury in the eighth as Jason Kondra singled to knock home Ali Ferreiras. Two batters later Giovanni Jimenez singled home Joe Manzella to close out the scoring.

The Panthers will return to the diamond to take on the Old Westbury Alumni on Friday, April 23 at the Jackie Robinson Athletic Complex at 7 p.m.

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