Box Score LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. – For eight innings, the Plattsburgh State baseball team had No. 4-ranked SUNY Cortland on the ropes but a three-run ninth inning by the Red Dragons proved to be the cause of anguish for the Cardinals who fell 5-4 to their SUNYAC rivals at Siena Field on Sunday afternoon.
At no point during the first eight-and-a-half innings of action did the Cardinals (9-17, 4-8 SUNYAC) find themselves trailing SUNY Cortland (21-6, 9-1 SUNYAC) thanks in large part to a gritty performance on the hill by junior Mike Vargues.
The Gansevoort, N.Y., product battled through a shaky first inning as he loaded the bases before getting Conrad Ziemendorf to ground out to wrap up the frame.
Plattsburgh State struck for its first run of the tilt in the top of the third when Jeremy Rodriguez parlayed a leadoff base on balls into a run. Rodriguez hustled to second after a sacrifice bunt by Jon Repetto and advanced to third on a wild pitch by Red Dragons' starter Mark Palumbo.
After Nick Lupo drew a five-pitch walk, it appeared as though the junior would be caught on the base paths. Attempting to steal, Lupo got caught in a rundown and Rodriguez smartly broke for home plate and evaded the tag of P.J. Rinaldi to put the Cardinals up 1-0.
Cortland knotted things up in the home half of the fourth with a one-out RBI double by Vinny Bomasuto before another round of small ball put Plattsburgh State on top once again. Junior Frank Buksa led off the top of the fifth with a two-base hit and came around to score when Repetto laid down a squeeze bunt and picked up an RBI.
The Cardinals maintained their 2-1 edge until the bottom of the sixth. Once again, it was Bomasuto who provided the big hit when his sacrifice fly to center field plated Max Rosing who led off the frame with a double.
Chris Pescetti broke the 2-2 deadlock in the top of the eighth when his two-run single with two outs scored Brian Latulipe and Yuya Osawa. Both of the runners who scored worked walks to get themselves on the base paths.
Leading 4-2, Vargues shut down the Red Dragons in the eighth before running into trouble in the last frame. The first two SUNY Cortland batters in the frame reached on a hit and the second Plattsburgh State error of the day. Vargues then recorded an out before Anthony Iacomini delivered a two-run single to left-center field to tie the score at four.
Iacomini scampered to second base on a wild pitch by Vargues, leaving Rinaldi to play the role of hero for the Red Dragons. His walk-off single through the right side of the infield scored Iacomini to end the game.
Vargues (1-3) endured the tough loss for Plattsburgh State. He threw 8.1 innings and gave up four earned runs on 10 hits. The junior walked four and struck out a pair of Cortland batters. Bomasuto (2-0) threw 2.1 innings of relief to earn the win.
Buksa, Latulipe, Osawa and Pescetti each recorded one of the four Plattsburgh State hits on the day.
Plattsburgh State will be back at it on Tuesday when they travel to Saratoga Springs to face Union College in a non-conference tilt. The nine-inning contest is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. from the East Side Recreation Park.
