PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State baseball team closed out its home-opening weekend with a 7-1 loss against No. 6/6 SUNY Cortland in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play at Chip Cummings Field on Saturday. The Cardinals slide to 5-15 overall and 0-9 in the league, while the Red Dragons, 2015 Division III World Series champions, are 26-5 and 11-2. Cortland is ranked according to the latest American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA)/D3baseball.com national polls.
Plattsburgh State senior T.J. Montalbano (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills West/Jefferson CC), junior Joe Deland (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem East/Suffolk County CC), sophomore Jon Craft (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) and freshman Alex Follmer (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Plattsburgh) each singled, with Deland also driving in a run and Craft scoring a run. Junior Noah Clark (Toms River, N.J./Toms River East/Caldwell) stole a base, while sophomore Jordan Godfrey (Castleton, Vt./Rutland) and freshman Mike Onufrak (Mattituck, N.Y./Mattituck) both drew walks. Sophomore Ryan Whalen (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Plattsburgh) took the loss after allowing five runs – three earned – on eight hits in 4.1 innings. Freshman Justin Adams (Valhalla, N.Y./Westlake) threw two hitless and scoreless relief frames.
Junior Jack Massa went 3-for-5 with a double and a two-run home run to lead Cortland's 12-hit attack. Senior Steve Figuueroa doubled twice, sophomore Dan Schweitzer went 2-for-5 with a triple and classmate Marcos Perivolaris walked three times and singled once. Senior Jeff Cooke scattered three hits over six scoreless innings for the win and junior Jason Martin yielded an unearned run on one hit for a three-inning save.
Cortland's opening run came on a two-out throwing error in the first inning. The Red Dragons got two runners into scoring position in the second, but Whalen induced a groundout to prevent any damage. Cortland junior Pat Schetter put the visitors up 2-0 on a one-out sacrifice fly to left field that scored Perivolaris. In the fifth, Massa launched a two-run shot over the left field fence and Schetter followed three pitches later with a ball off of the left-center fence.
Plattsburgh State got on the board after some two-out work in the seventh. Following a wild pitch and a Red Dragon infield error, Deland ripped a single up the middle to score Craft as the Cardinals now trailed, 5-1. Cortland scored its final two runs in the top of the ninth as Schweitzer's two-run single up the middle pushed the lead to 7-1.
The Cardinals are back in action on Monday at 4 p.m. with a non-conference game at SUNY Canton. Plattsburgh State returns home next Tuesday and Wednesday for a three-game SUNYAC series against New Paltz.