PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. - The Plattsburgh State baseball team completed the sweep over State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) foe SUNY New Paltz on Saturday afternoon, as the team was led by a fantastic performance from Kyle Cremin (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) in the conference doubleheader. Cremin finished 6-7 on the day with four RBI, four runs scored, and a homer.
The Cardinals got some solid starts from Chris Santic (Stony Point, N.Y./North Rockland) and Andrew Veit (Yaphank, N.Y./Bellport), who each earned wins and received timely hitting from the Cardinal offense. Nick Cergol (Mount Sinai, N.Y./Mount Sinai) reached base four times on the day, scoring two runs and driving in a run and Conner Gonzalski (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) had three hits, walked twice, and drove in a run on the day.
Plattsburgh improves to 9-14 (3-6 SUNYAC) with both wins and will next host St. Lawrence on Tuesday, April 18 at 3 p.m. The Hawks fall to 7-18 (0-12 SUNYAC) and also host a home game on April 18, as they welcome Russell Sage to New Paltz.
Game One: Plattsburgh 4, New Paltz 3
The Cards won game two behind the bat of Cremin and the arm of Santic, as the team beat New Paltz by one run to take the SUNYAC series. The Hawks were unable to retire Cremin, as the sophomore corner infielder finished 3-3 with two RBI, two runs scored, and the homer that put Plattsburgh up for good. Santic was also strong, limiting New Paltz to just two runs over 7.1 innings, as the southpaw scattered nine hits to earn the win.
Logan Avin (Honolulu, Hawaii/Waterford (Conn.)) came in relief to earn the save with 1.2 innings of work, giving up one run and striking out one. Cergol was 2-5 with an RBI in the first game of the day, while Gonzalski was 2-4 with an RBI and Veit had a hit, a run scored, stole a base, and walked twice.
Plattsburgh struck first in game one, as Cremin scored Alex Kornblau (Pound Ridge, N.Y./Fox Lane) on a single to left center, giving the Cards an early 1-0 lead. New Paltz was able to respond in the following half-inning scoring a run on a fielder's choice to even the score up at one run apiece. The Cardinals retook the lead in the fifth when Gonzalski grounded a single up the middle to bring Cremin around from second to move the score to 2-1. Once again, the Hawks had a response in the following half inning, scoring on another RBI ground out.
In the bottom of the seventh, with the score still tied at two, Cremin stepped to the plate with one out and smoked a ball to deep right center, clearing the fence in right to give Plattsburgh the lead off of his third home run of the 2023 season. After Avin relieved in the top of the eighth and escaped a jam, Cergol singled to center in the bottom of the inning to bring home Veit, picking up an important insurance run for the Cards.
In the ninth, the Hawks began to threaten, as they started off the inning with back-to-back singles and then each moved up a base with a sacrifice bunt. With the tying run now in scoring position, New Paltz added a run with a sacrifice fly to make the score 4-3. After a walk and passed ball, the tying run stood just 90 feet away and the go-ahead run was one base. Avin then forced Matt Sarni to ground up the middle to Veit, who stepped on second to end the game and earn his third save of the season.
For New Paltz, James McGovern took the loss with two innings of work and one earned run charged to his ledger. Tommy Kreider was 3-3 at the plate, and Nick Harvey, Chris Sais, and Justin Harvey each had two hits for the Hawks.