ONEONTA, N.Y. - A pair of great pitching performances by seniors Brian Burns and Marc Plante yielded two different results as the Plattsburgh State baseball team split a pair of SUNYAC games at Oneonta State on Sunday afternoon.

The Cardinals took one game from their conference foes during the three game series and saw their record move to 6-14 and 2-7 in SUNYAC play. Oneonta State improves to 8-13 and 3-1 in league games.

GAME ONE: Plattsburgh State 6, Oneonta State 5 (7 inn.)
With Brian Burns tossing a sterling game on the hill and the Cardinals receiving more than enough offense to buoy its starter, Plattsburgh State had to hang on for a 6-5 victory over the Red Dragons in game one.

After Burns and Oneonta State starter Kyle Jordan traded a pair of scoreless innings, the Cardinals drew first blood in the third frame. John Casten began the inning with the first hit of the ball game before JD Springer drew a five-pitch walk.

After an out, Bryan Latulipe mashed an RBI single to plate Springer before the shortstop was thrown out at second base trying to stretch his hit into one of the extra base variety.

In the top of the fourth, Plattsburgh State was able to collect another pair of runs thanks to some timely two-out hitting. Casey Brighton and Nick Lupo sandwiched singles between the second out of the frame before Casten brought them both home with a single to left field that made things 3-0 Cardinals.

On the defensive side of things, Burns was doing a fine job of limiting the Red Dragons at the plate. Through four innings of work, the senior had allowed just one hit and three base runners. Oneonta State managed to tack on its first run of the game when Dean Haussel sent an RBI double into right field that made the score 3-1 heading to the sixth.

Things really began to unravel for the Red Dragons in the top of the seventh, when a trio of errors led directly to three unearned runs for the Cardinals. Brighton picked up the only hit of the frame, when his double scored Mike Mulvihill and gave Plattsburgh State a 6-1 lead.

With what seemed like a comfortable lead, Burns looked to finish things in the seventh and made some great progress in doing just that with a double-play ball off the bat of Thomas Hand. The clinching third out, though, was difficult to record.

A base on balls followed by a single by Haussel forced Burns back to the Plattsburgh State dugout and gave Steven Corea a chance to finish things. Instead of making quick work of the Red Dragons, Corea surrendered another walk before Chris Orlando cleared the bases with a double to make things 6-4.

Chris Massaroni followed with an RBI single before Corey Grossman was called in to record the pivotal third out.

Burns improved to 3-1 following the win as he struck out four in 6.2 innings of work. Casten was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs for the Cardinals while Brighton was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI of his own.

Jordan (0-1) took the loss for Oneonta State.

GAME TWO: Oneonta State 3, Plattsburgh State 1 (9 inn.)
After staving off a late comeback attempt by the Red Dragons in the first game, the Cardinals couldn't hold off another late-game charge by the home squad in the final meeting between the two clubs in the regular season.

Senior pitcher Mark Plante held Oneonta State in check for the majority of the tilt with another sharp outing. The Red Dragons grabbed an early 1-0 lead when Dean Haussel came around to score while the Cardinals trapped would-be second base thief Chris Orlando in a run down situation in the bottom of the first inning.

In the top of the third, Plattsburgh State evened matters when Mike Mulvihill brought Bryan Latulipe home with an RBI single. The base knock by Mulvihill was one of just three hits in the bout by the Cardinals.

As effective as Plante was on the mound, the senior struggled when it came to giving up free bases. The sixth walk issued by the hurler proved costly as Ivan Plata swindled second base after reaching first on four pitches in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Chris Massaroni then drilled a sharp single left field line to plate Plata for what would hold up to be the winning run.

Oneonta State added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth when Thomas Hand came up with a sacrifice fly to score Rob Peluso who reached on an error by Plattsburgh State releiver Corey Grossman.

Plante took the tough loss, working 6.2 innings and giving up five hits and two earned runs. The senior struck out three Oneonta State batters. Alex Mastrianni (2-3) picked up the win for Oneonta State by firing seven innings of three-hit baseball. Jim Hegmann picked up his first save of the 2013 campaign.

The Cardinals will return to Chip Cummings Field on Tuesday afternoon for a non-conference confrontation with Middlebury College. The game is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.