Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 |
Box Score 3 FORT MYERS, Fla. - Staging a remarkable comeback in their final contest of the day, the Plattsburgh State baseball team (3-7) scored seven runs in the final three innings to earn a 13-8 win over McDaniel College on Monday afternoon at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic.
The Cardinals were swept in a doubleheader against Wisconsin-Stout to begin the day.
GAME ONE – Wisconsin-Stout 6, Plattsburgh State 4 (7 inn.)
Looking to score back-to-back wins for the first time in 2014, the Cardinals staked the Blue Devils to an early 1-0 lead before plating four runs in the bottom of the second frame.
Frank Buksa and Jeremy Rodriguez greeted Blue Devils' starting pitcher Adam Widder with back-to-back singles to lead off the inning before he hit two Cardinals to push the first Plattsburgh State run across.
Shane Houppert received credit for his second RBI of the season when he was plunked with the bases loaded to score Buksa. A sacrifice fly from Luke Weaver followed by an RBI double by Brian Latulipe made it a 3-0 game before Patrick Gullickson headed out of the Stout bullpen to replace Widder.
Gullickson began his showing by walking back-to-back batters which scored the Cardinals' final run of the day. Yuya Osawa was put on base for the only time in the game when a bases-loaded base on balls issued to him scored Houppert.
Plattsburgh State started Joe Leddy was cruising along just fine until the senior came to the top of the sixth inning. Armed with a 4-2 advantage, the Goshen, N.Y., product walked the first batter he faced in the frame before giving up an RBI triple to Charlie Meyer.
With the score at 4-3, Leddy was pulled in favor of Mike Vargues who immediately gave up a game-tying single to Jared Francois.
The 4-4 stalemate lasted until the top of the seventh inning when Ryan Freitag launched a two-run long ball out of the park for the deciding scores.
The makings of a comeback were there for the Cardinals in the bottom of the seventh as Latulipe and Lupo reached on consecutive errors to begin the inning. With the bases loaded and one out, the Cardinals wound up bouncing into a pair of groundouts to end the game.
Vargues (1-1) was on the receiving end of the tough loss while Leddy struck out four through five innings of work in his 2014 debut. Plattsburgh State amassed four hits during the game before Tyler Kinderman sewed up the victory by firing three innings of no-hit ball.
GAME TWO – Wisconsin-Stout 11, Plattsburgh State 0 (7 inn.)
Continuing their hot hitting into the early stages of the second tilt, the Blue Devils tagged Plattsburgh State starter Peter Shea for nine runs in the first inning. The freshman gave up seven hits, walked a trio of batters and committed a balk before being lifted for Ross Levinson who finally ended the frame with a strikeout.
Making matters worse was the fact that Plattsburgh State was hard-pressed to get anything going against Blue Devils' starter Wyatt Ernstmeyer. The Cardinals conjured up just one hit against the freshman and were unable to make something happen with the three walks issued by the hurler.
Ernstmeyer worked through four innings before a pair of Wisconsin-Stout relievers combined to surrender just two more hits to keep the shutout intact.
One of the three Plattsburgh State hits came off the bat of Billy Rombauts. It was the East Islip, N.Y., product's first hit at the college level.
GAME THREE – Plattsburgh State 13, McDaniel 8 (9 inn.)
The Cardinals put the brakes on their 16-inning scoring drought in a big way by erasing a 7-0 McDaniel lead to come back and emerge victorious during their third game of the day.
Freshman Luis Pepen Matos was chosen to make his first career start, but the first-year player was met rudely by the Green Terror who tagged the pitcher for a trio of runs in the bottom of the first.
A two-out double by Marshall Betts made it a 4-0 McDaniel lead in the bottom of the third before Pepen Matos retreated to the Plattsburgh State dugout. JD Jenkins came on in relief, but didn't cool off the Green Terror's bats quickly enough as they pounced on the releiver for another trio of runs. Logan Seitz produced a two-run triple during the four-run third.
Lupo helped the Cardinals begin their comeback in the top of the fifth when his two-run single to center field allowed John Casten and Osawa to come around and score. Buksa sliced into McDaniel's advantage even further when his single plated Lupo to make matters 7-3.
Error number three of the game by McDaniel allowed Zach Hieb to reach base while Buksa broke for home plate to pull Plattsburgh State within three runs.
Seitz responded with another RBI triple to push the Green Terror's edge to 8-4 heading to the sixth inning, but that was the final run McDaniel would score on the day.
RBI singles from Osawa and Lupo in the Plattsburgh State portion of the sixth allowed the Cardinals to close within 8-6 before some solid two-out hitting in the top of the seven put Plattsburgh State on top for good.
Consecutive RBI singles by Casten and Luke Weaver tied the game before Osawa plated the go-ahead run with a double which scored Weaver. Another McDaniel miscue allowed the 10th Plattsburgh State run to score before the frame came to a close.
Keeping the Green Terror's bats at bay while the Cardinals were on the comeback trail was sophomore Ben Weightman. The native of Cadyville, N.Y., earned his first win of the season by working though four strong innings in which he gave up just two hits.
Osawa, Lupo and Latulipe each registered an additional RBI in a three-run Plattsburgh State ninth inning to account for the final score.
Lupo and Osawa each finished the game with four hits and totaled seven RBI between them. Weaver (3-for-4) and Casten (2-for-5) also enjoyed multi-hit games for the Cardinals.
David Pisauro took the loss for McDaniel which was led offensively by a 2-for-5, three RBI performance by Seitz.
Plattsburgh State will enjoy an off day on Tuesday before returning to the diamond on Wednesday afternoon. The Cardinals will play a single nine-inning game against the University of Dubuque at 10 a.m.
