WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – The Plattsburgh State baseball team fell to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 10-0, in seven innings at the Chain of Lakes Field on Sunday. The Cardinals go to 2-1 on the season, while the Engineers, a finalist in last year's Liberty League conference championship, move to 2-6. 

Plattsburgh State sophomore Patrick Bryant (Center Moriches, N.Y./Center Moriches/Hofstra) had one hit and one walk and freshman Kentaro Mori (Tokyo, Japan/Joto) doubled. Freshman Connor Lyons (Brookhaven, N.Y./Bellport) made his collegiate debut on the mound and was tagged with the loss after allowing seven runs on five hits. Sophomore Frank Finkbeiner (Stone Ridge, N.Y./Rondout Valley) surrendered just one hit in two scoreless innings as the last of three relievers. 

RPI sophomore Brendan McNerney threw a two-hit complete-game shutout with nine strikeouts. Five Engineers had multiple hits, including senior Jason Ramos, who had two doubles and two RBIs. Senior Sam Lawrence, junior J.T. Sawyer and seniors Jeff Sitarski and Justin Valente all chipped in two hits. 

The Engineers broke out with seven hits and seven first-inning runs. Junior Weston Hawkins singled home two runs before Ramos dropped in a one-out two-run double. Three more RBI singles capped RPI's opening-frame scoring. Plattsburgh State had two runners in scoring position the next half inning, but back-to-back groundouts squashed any scoring. 

RPI scored once in each of the next three innings, while Plattsburgh State had just two batters reach base in that span. The Engineers loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth, but Finkbeiner induced a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play to prevent any additional damage. 

Plattsburgh State resumes its Spring Break trip with a nine-inning contest against Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts on Monday at 3 p.m.