NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State baseball team split a doubleheader against New Paltz on Friday, clinching a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) series win. After falling 12-2 in game one, the Card's offense stormed back for a 21-4 win as Kyle Cremin (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) homered twice in game two. The junior also homered in game one and picked up his 100^th career hit with a first-inning double, becoming the 20^th player in program history to hit the century mark.

Cremin became just the 11^th player in program history with a multi-homer game, as he hit a dramatic grand slam to take the lead for good in the second and hit a two-run shot in the seventh to help seal the run-rule win. Mike Rasquin (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) drove in four runs in the game-two win, and Joey Di Rocco (Congers, N.Y./Clarkstown South) had four hits on the day, extending his hit streak to 10 games. On their spring break trip, Plattsburgh played 10 games, finishing 8-2 and outscoring their opponents 108-55. Andrew Veit (Yaphank, N.Y./Bellport) earned the win in game two, throwing a complete game and striking out 10 batters while allowing just one earned run.

Plattsburgh State moves to 11-4 (2-1 SUNYAC) on the season and will not get some much-needed rest, going a week before their next games when they take on Cortland on Friday, March 30 to begin their second SUNYAC series. New Paltz moves to 7-7 (1-2 SUNYAC) on the year and will head to SUNY Maritime on Tuesday, March 27 for a non-conference matchup.

Game One: New Paltz 12, Plattsburgh 2 (8 innings)

A potential pitcher's duel through five innings turned into a run-rule win for New Paltz as they scored three runs in the sixth and seventh innings, and then four in the eighth to take down the Cards, forcing a rubber match for the series win. Xavier Zykoff earned the win with seven innings of shutout baseball, walking none and striking out five, while Chris Santic (Stony Point, N.Y./North Rockland) took his first loss of the season with 5.2 innings giving up four runs. He also eclipsed the 100 career strikeout mark in the outing, striking out two.

Cremin finished the day with two hits, a double for his 100^th hit in the first and then a solo homer in the eighth to get Plattsburgh on the board. Conner Gonzalski (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) and Aidan Diltz (Monroe, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury) each had two hits while Daniel Novelli (Maracy, Venezuela/Cypress Creek (Fla.)) reached twice and drove in a run for the Cards.
The Hawks struck first with a run in the second inning, but that was the long run through the first four and a half innings of play. In the fifth, a solo homer from New Paltz extended their lead to 2-0 after five innings.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Hawk's offense began to build their lead up as they scored three runs on four hits. In the seventh, they scored three runs again, capped by a Michael Ascanio two-run double, as they took an 8-0 lead into the top of the eighth.

With Zykoff out of the game, the Cards greeted the New Paltz reliever with a one-out homer of the bat of Cremin, putting them on the scoreboard. Three singles thereafter loaded the bases for Novelli with two outs, and the junior catcher drew a walk to bring in another Plattsburgh run.

Trailing by six, the Hawks offense picked up where they left off in the last two innings, tagging the Cardinals relief corp. for four runs, as a Tommy Kreider single to center ended the game, giving New Paltz a 12-2 win after eight innings.

Kreider had four hits and two RBI for New Paltz while Anthony Pericolosi and Christopher Sais each had three hits.

Game Two: Plattsburgh 21, New Paltz 4 (7 innings)

In the rubber match, the Plattsburgh offense found their form from just about every other game day in the last week, collecting 18 hits and scoring 21 runs to run-rule New Paltz in seven innings. Cremin finished the day 3-5 with two homers and seven RBI, one RBI off the program record set back by Irv McLaren in 1956.

Veit picked up the complete game win with 10 strikeouts, allowing just one earned run and giving up eight hits. Rasquin finished 2-5 on the day to go along with four RBI, adding a walk and double, while Di Rocco and Diltz each had three hits. Di Rocco drove in a run and scored four times and Diltz doubled and drove in a run while scoring twice. Novelli and Nick Cergol (Mount Sinai, N.Y./Mount Sinai) each had two hits with Novelli doubling and scoring three times.

After a struggle to score in the first game, Plattsburgh loaded the bases in the first inning and Cergol singled a run home to put the Cards up 1-0 in the first. After a four-spot from the Hawks in the bottom of the inning, it looked as if the second game would repeat itself, as they lead 4-1 after one.

A leadoff double from Novelli and a single from Di Rocco put runners on the corners in the second, and back-to-back flyouts and a walk loaded the bases with two outs for Cremin. On the 3-1 pitch, Cremin smoked a fastball to deep right field, well over the wall, giving Plattsburgh a 5-4 lead, one which they would hold, going on to score 20 unanswered runs.
From there Veit dealt the rest of the way, putting up zeroes in the subsequent six innings of work, striking out nine.

In the third, Plattsburgh added three runs as Ben Catrambone (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) singled home a run and Rasquin doubled home two to extend the Cardinal lead to 8-4, giving Veit some breathing room.

The Cards extended their lead even further in the fourth, going up 14-4 with a two-run single from Rasquin, RBI singles from Alex Kornblau (Pound Ridge, N.Y./Fox Lane) and Cremin, and an error scoring two runs.

Looking to enact the run rule in the seventh leading by ten runs, the Cardinals left no doubt, scoring seven runs with Diltz doubling home a run to kick off the scoring in the frame. Back-to-back RBI walks, a wild pitch, and Kornblau's sacrifice fly put Plattsburgh up 19-4 with two outs in the inning. Cremin stepped up with a runner on and hit a high fly ball that fell past the right field wall for his second homer of the game giving Plattsburgh a 21-4 lead.

In the bottom of the frame, Veit struck out all three batters he faced, sealing the series win for Plattsburgh.

James McGovern took the loss giving up seven earned runs in two innings of work.