Box Score FORT MYERS, Fla. – A decision to play some small ball paid off heavily for the Plattsburgh State baseball team as it downed Fredonia State 3-2 in the final tilt of the three-game SUNYAC series between the two squads on Friday afternoon.
WIth the win, the Cardinals see their 2014 mark rise to 6-8 and 2-1 in conference matchups. Meanwhile, the Blue Devils slip to 5-7 and 1-2 in the SUNYAC.
Plattsburgh State starting pitcher Scott Orr found himself pitching with a lead after the Cardinals' first set of ups. Brian Latulipe connected on Plattsburgh State's first hit of the tilt by lacing a one-out double to right center field. The Plattsburgh, N.Y., native would come around to score when Frank Buksa reached base safely on the first of two fielding blunders by the Blue Devils.
The Cardinals maintained their 1-0 advantage through the midway point of the nine-inning battle before the Blue Devils finally got to Orr.
After hitting the first batter he faced in the home half of the fifth, Orr surrendered a single to Conner Lorenzo before a fielder's choice that did not result in any outs loaded the bags.
Fredonia State put their two runs on the board by way of an infield single by Ricky Mendiola which plated a pair of Blue Devils. Orr made sure the home squad's lead remained at 2-1 by inducing a flyout and a double play to escape from the inning.
A dose of small ball was the recipe the Cardinals turned to in order to regain the lead for good. Back-to-back singles from Buksa and Jeremy Rodriguez began the Plattsburgh portion of the sixth before Nick Lupo was hit by a pitch to place Cardinals on all three bases.
A fielder's choice accounted for the first out of the frame before Chris Pescetti received the bunt signal during his ensuing at bat. The squeeze play worked to perfection as Rodriguez hustled home to knot matters at two each.
Plattsburgh State stayed with the squeeze play on the following at bat, but Luke Weaver missed one of his bunt attempts. With Lupo caught in what looked like a tailor-made rundown out, he slid to avoid a tag and was able to scamper home to record the game-winning run on the broken play.
Coming on in relief of Orr was junior Mike Vargues, who did a masterful job of making sure the Blue Devils' offense would not be a factor for the remainder of the game. The Gansevoort, N.Y., product worked almost effortlessly through the final four frames of the game, retiring the only 12 batters he faced and collecting a pair of punch-outs.
By powering through five innings of four-hit baseball, Orr (1-2) was able to notch his first victory of the season. The sophomore gave up just two runs on four hits, a pair of walks and a hit batter. He also struck out a pair of Blue Devils.
Tommy Morris (0-2) took the loss, going six innings and giving up five hits and a pair of earned runs.
With their first three SUNYAC games of the season in the books, the Cardinals will close out their Florida schedule by butting heads with non-conference foes. Plattsburgh State will engage in a pair of non-league confrontations on Saturday when they take on Johns Hopkins at 9 a.m. before meeting up with Knox College at noon.
