CLERMONT, Fla. - The Plattsburgh State softball team started the day with an early 4-3 victory over Bethany (W.Va.) in eight innings, but fell to Ithaca, 5-12, in nine later in the afternoon. The Cardinals' record now stands at 6-2 at the NTC Dot Richardson Tournament.

Ashley Marshall improved to 4-0 in the circle for Plattsburgh, earning the win against Bethany. During the contest, Nicole McKee and Erin Florkiewicz went 2-for-4 at the plate and Danielle Gjergji recorded three hits in four at-bats to lead the team.

Bethany scored in the second and fourth innings to take a 2-0 lead, but Plattsburgh rallied to tie the score with runs in the fifth and sixth. Once the game went to extra innings, the international tiebreaker rule was applied. Plattsburgh capitalized on the situation, scoring two more runs. Bethany managed to score once in the bottom of the eighth, but could not get another and the Cardinals emerged the victors.

Tanya Fedyshyn suffered her second loss in as many days for the Cardinals, having entered the game with Plattsburgh trailing Ithaca, 3-0, in the fifth inning. Plattsburgh tied the game with three runs in the sixth and held fast, forcing the game into extra innings.

Both teams scored once more in the eighth inning to make the score 4-4, but the Bombers would explode in the ninth and send eight runners across the plate. The Cardinals only managed to produce one run in the bottom of the inning and the Bombers walked off with the win.

"We did a really good job of holding Ithaca, but they are really competitive and came back strong," stated Plattsburgh head coach Stephanie Zweig. "We scored a lot on errors and bouncing ground balls. We only had two hits [during the game]."

Plattsburgh will get the day off tomorrow, but will return to the diamond to face Frostburg State and Berry on Thursday afternoon.