BROCKPORT, N.Y. - Just 20 minutes after Brockport roughed up the Plattsburgh State baseball team for 10 runs, senior pitcher Brian Burns rendered the Golden Eagles' bats largely inert in an eight-inning 3-2 victory to help the Cardinals earn a split against their SUNYAC enemies at the Clark V. Whited Complex on Saturday afternoon.

Plattsburgh State's record goes to 8-16 and 3-8 in league confrontations while the Golden Eagles move to 13-11 and 4-8 in SUNYAC play.

GAME ONE: Brockport 10, Plattsburgh State 1 (9 inn.)
Veteran right-hander Marc Plante got knocked around by the Brockport lineup, surrendering nine runs in just four innings of work.

After a scoreless opening frame, the Golden Eagles got on the board first with a one-out RBI single by Wesley Burghardt before Mike Weakley produced the first of many extra-base hits for Brockport with an RBI double to make things 2-0.

Mounting a two-out rally in the top of the third, the Cardinals received consecutive singles by Shane Houppert and Brian Latulipe before Nick Lupo stepped to the plate and delivered the only extra-base hit of the tilt for Plattsburgh State.

The sophomore drilled a double down the left field line to score Houppert and cut the Brockport lead in half.

The Golden Eagles, though, wasted no time in cushioning their advantage. After Plante hit a pair of Brockport batters to begin the third, Dan Hurlimann laced a double down the right field line that scored another pair of Brockport runners and made matters 4-1.

Things went from bad to worse in the home half of the fourth when Nick Bunce launched a two-out grand slam beyond the fence in right-center to give Brockport a 9-1 lead.

Making matters worse, Brockport starting pitcher James Bardenett found his groove after Plattsburgh State picked up its only run of the game. The senior retired 12 of the next 13 Cardinal batters he faced and did not surrender another hit after the third inning.

Brockport tacked on their final run off of Plattsburgh State reliever Scott Orr in the bottom of the eighth.

Plante slid to 0-3 on the season after his four-inning day. In addition to his two hit batters, the Massena, N.Y., product issued some five walks to the Brockport lineup which tagged him for eight hits and nine earned runs.

Bardenett improved to 3-3 on the season with a seven-inning performance that was highlighted by eight strikeouts and just one walk.

Chris Pescetti picked up two of the six hits for the Cardinals while Latulipe and Lupo were each 1-for-4.

GAME TWO: Plattsburgh State 3, Brockport 2 (8 inn.)
In a battle that featured two of the best arms in the SUNYAC, Burns came out on top and earned his fourth victory of 2013. The senior out of Ellenville, N.Y., and his counterpart – Brockport southpaw Travis Renwick – gave up four and three hits respectively, and freshman Luke Weaver conjured up the only run-producing hit of the eight-inning tilt when his two-out single in the top of the eighth plated Houppert and gave the Cardinals the win.

Burns suffered through a third inning that saw Brockport take a 2-0 lead after the senior plunked Bunce when the bases were loaded before issuing a walk to the next batter, Hurlimann, before a ground ball out got him out of the frame.

Weaver came up with a great defensive play in the bottom of the fourth in addition to his game-winning hit. After the initial Brockport batter reached on one of the four Plattsburgh State errors, it looked as though Jake Coleman was going to give the Golden Eagles a 3-0 lead with his one-out single up the middle.

Fortunately, Weaver came up with a strong throw from center field to gun down the overzealous Mike Weakley at the plate.

In the Plattsburgh fifth, Pescetti was hit by the first pitch he saw before Mike Vargues reached first on a walk. A great sacrifice bunt laid down by Lupo advanced the runners and set up John Casten who picked up an RBI with a sacrifice fly.

The Cardinals knotted things at two when Houppert and Vargues pulled off a double steal with the latter swiping home plate with two outs.

Burns, the SUNYAC's leader in ERA heading into the tilt, fanned six Brockport batters in the complete game victory, and didn't give up an earned run. Renwick fell to 3-2, but struck out five and issued two walks.

Weaver and Latulipe were each 1-for-4 while Casten and Houppert were 1-for-2 in the game.

The Cardinals and Golden Eagles will wrap up their three-game series on Sunday with a nine-inning game that is scheduled to begin at noon.