NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State baseball team continued their sizzling hot spring break, opening State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play with a 16-11 road win over SUNY New Paltz. Nick Cergol (Mount Sinai, N.Y./Mount Sinai) led the offensive effort as he was 3-6 with 5 RBI, two doubles, and a three-run homer as Plattsburgh took their fifth straight win and ninth in their last ten games.
Kolby Mordecki (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) earned the win on the mound for Plattsburgh State, tossing six innings, and giving up four earned runs while striking out two. Each Cardinal that stepped to the plate on Thursday registered a hit, with Mike Rasquin (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City), Alex Kornblau (Pound Ridge, N.Y./Fox Lane), Kyle Cremin (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic), and Aidan Diltz (Monroe, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury) each had two hits. Kornblau scored three runs, stole three bags, and drove in a run while Cremin drove in two runs, scored twice, walked, and stole a base. Dylan Bass (Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North) struck out three in the ninth inning to close out the win for Plattsburgh.
The Cards move to 10-3 (1-0 SUNYAC) and New Paltz falls to 6-6 (0-1 SUNYAC) on the season. The two teams meet again tomorrow, March 22, beginning at noon for a SUNYAC doubleheader.
Plattsburgh State continued with the trends that have been occurring their entire spring trip, scoring early and often. The team took a 2-0 lead in the first, as Joey Di Rocco (Congers, N.Y./Clarkstown South) drove in a run with a walk and Diltz followed with a single to bring in another. The Cards then added two more runs in the third as Ben Catrambone (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) singled home two runs to put Plattsburgh up 4-0.
Three more runs came in for the Cardinals in the top of the third as Rasquin singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch to begin the frame and was then promptly brought home by a Kornblau single. After Cremin walked and a sacrifice bunt moved him and Kornblau over, Cergol scored the pair with a double to right field, putting Plattsburgh up 7-0.
New Paltz's offense finally awoke in the fourth, as they capped a four-run inning with a two-run homer from Justin Harvey to head to the fifth inning trailing 7-4.
Plattsburgh wasted no time regaining its large lead, as two HBPs and an infield single from Rasquin loaded the bases. An error then scored Catrambone and Cremin followed with a sacrifice fly putting the Cardinals back up by five. After a strikeout, Cergol came to the dish and crushed the second pitch of the at-bat deep to right field and over the fence for a three-run shot, putting the Cards up 12-4.
The score remained until an unearned cross the plate in the bottom of the sixth for the Hawks, as Plattsburgh State led New Paltz 12-5 after six innings.
In the seventh, the Cards added more insurance as Di Rocco singled home two runs, extending the lead to 14-5. The following inning, Cremin drove in another run, putting the Cards up 15-5, as it looked as if they may invoke the 10-run mercy rule. However, the Hawks tacked on five runs in the eighth, leaving the bases loaded as Logan Avin (Honolulu, Hawaii/Waterford (Conn.)) escaped the jam inducing a fly out and ground out to end the inning.
The Cards tallied another run after Cergol doubled and came around to score on a wild pitch, leading 16-10 heading into the ninth. Bass worked around a solo HR to strike out three batters in the ninth inning, giving the Cards the 16-11 win in their conference opener.
Jason Wall took the loss lasting just three innings giving up seven runs. Nick Harvey and Justin Harvey both homered and drove in three runs, while Justin Harvey also doubled and had three hits.