POTSDAM, N.Y. - The Plattsburgh State baseball team won a slugfest against the Clarkson Golden Knights on the road, as the team picked up a non-conference victory. Four Cardinal hitters had multi-hit games and every Cardinal batter had a hit, as Ryan Nista (East Greenbush, N.Y./Columbia) rode the offense to his first win of the season with five innings of solid work on the mound. 

Nick Cergol (Mount Sinai, N.Y./Mount Sinai) and Andrew Veit(Yaphank, N.Y./Bellport) each had three hits for Plattsburgh, with Cergol adding two doubles, two runs, and two RBI, and Veit adding a double, a run scored, and two RBI. Kyle Cremin(Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) registered two hits, also recording two RBI, two runs, a stolen base, and a walk, and Joey Di Rocco (Congers, N.Y./Clarkstown South) drove in three runs on two hits while also scoring a run. 

Plattsburgh rises to 5-13 and will open their home schedule as they take on RPI on Friday, April 7 at 3 p.m. Clarkson falls to 5-11 and opens up a huge Liberty League series versus Rochester on the road on Friday, April 7. 

After a scoreless first inning, the Cardinals were the first team to push runs across home, as Di Rocco opened the scoring with an RBI single to left to score Veit. Cergol followed with a two-out RBI single to right to plate Di Rocco and put the Cards up two runs. The Golden Knights had an immediate response, as the team scored three runs on an RBI single and two-run double to give themselves a 3-2 lead. 

Plattsburgh regained the lead in the top of the third as they took advantage of shoddy defense to score two runs in the frame. Veit tied the game with a single to right center to score Conner Gonzalski (Cicero, N.Y/Cicero-North Syracuse) and Di Rocco picked up an RBI on a fielder's choice to give Plattsburgh the lead, which they would hold for the remainder of the game's action. 

The Cardinals continued to build on their lead in the top of the fourth, as once again bad defense allowed them to score several unearned runs, as they put together a seven-run frame with only four hits. The inning began with Matt Blair (Elma, N.Y./Iroquois) reaching first on an error and Adam Wein (North Rockland, N.Y./Don Bosco Prep) reaching on a hit-by-pitch. Cergol followed with his first double of the game to center field, scoring Blair and putting two men in scoring position. Alex Kornblau (Pound Ridge, N.Y./Fox Lane) next singled to left-center, plating both Cergol and Wein to extend the lead to 7-3. After a Cremin single and double steal from himself and Kornblau, Gonzalski was walked to load the bases. Jack Defayette (Rotterdam, N.Y./Schalmont) then flew to center for a sure run and sacrifice fly, but the ball was misplayed and two runs instead scored to give the Cards a 9-3 lead. Di Rocco later flew out to center for a sacrifice fly and RBI and Blair, in his second at-bat of the inning, singled to left to score Defayette, as Plattsburgh led 11-3 after the big inning. Another run came into the score in the top of the fifth on a Cremin RBI groundout. 

After a scoreless bottom of the fifth, Nista was removed from the game after matching his career highs of five innings pitched and eight strikeouts, which he also achieved against SUNY Canton last May. Clarkson immediately took advantage of the fresh arms, as they plated eight runs in the innings on six hits and two errors, before Justin Osborn (Latham, N.Y./Shaker) was able to put out the fire. 

With the game now just being separated by a single run, Plattsburgh scored important insurance runs in the seventh and eighth as Osborn settled the Golden Knight bats. Veit drove in a run in the seventh with a sac fly and Cremin singled home a run in the eighth to put the Cards up 14-11 heading into the bottom of the ninth. After two runners reach Osborn, Plattsburgh turned to Logan Avin(Honolulu, Hawaii/Waterford (Conn.)) to nail down the save. After an infield hit put the tying run on first base, Avin was able to strike out the next Clarkson batter, earning his second save and giving Plattsburgh the win. 

Osborn finished with 3.1 innings of relief, giving up just two unearned runs while striking out five batters.