CANTON, N.Y. - In an unusual turn of events, the Plattsburgh State baseball team saw their attempt at a doubleheader sweep of St. Lawrence go by the wayside when the sun went down and forced the Cardinals to settle for a 1-1 afternoon at Tom Fay Field.

The Cardinals' record moves to 12-17 while the Saints go to 14-14. In the midst of a seventh-inning comeback in game two, the Cardinals saw the lights go out - literally - when the sun went down and caused the game to conclude early. 

GAME ONE: Plattsburgh State 8, St. Lawrence 2 (7 inn.)
Scott Orr, Andrew Kramer and Ross Levinson joined forces on the hill and delivered one of the Cardinals more masterful pitching performances of the season as the trio limited the Saints to just one hit over six innings.

Waging a scoreless battle with the home team through the opening three innings, the Cardinals finally broke through in the top portion of the fourth. TJ Montalbano and Joe Tolosky ripped singles to the left side of the field before Matt Krogh stepped to the plate and rifled an offering from St. Lawrence hurler Ben Jenkins into left field for a one-out RBI single. Joe Tolosky's hit was the first in his collegiate career.

From that point on, the Cardinals would never give up the lead and Brian Latulipe extended the edge to 2-0 with a run-producing single to right center. Senior Nick Lupo received credit for the game-winning RBI when his groundout allowed Krogh score from third.

Armed with a 3-0 lead, Plattsburgh State didn't give an inch to the Saints, who were allowed just two baserunners through the span of innings four, five and six.

Matt Phelan took over for Jenkins on the rubber for St. Lawrence, but the Cardinals didn't allow him to settle in at all. Mike Vargues reached on a strikeout before Montalbano picked up the first of three Plattsburgh State hits in the frame.

Alex Rodrigiez and Krogh followed that up with RBI singles which pushed the Cardinals' lead to 5-0. Manny Boccini registered his only RBI of the game when he took a bases-loaded walk before Latulipe kept the offensive showcase rolling with a sacrifice fly that plated Jack Tolosky.

Lupo went on to reach on the second St. Lawrence error of the frame and Krogh scored because of it for the Cardinals' final run. When the dust had settled, Plattsburgh State has scored five runs on a trio of hits and two errors in the fifth.

Levinson, a senior, gave up the only two St. Lawrence scores in the bottom of the seventh. Beau Yaremko ripped a two-out RBI double down the left field line before Chris Fernandez followed up with an RBI single.

Levinson closed the door on the Saints, though, by fanning a pair of batters and inducing a flyout to end the game.

Orr received credit for the win and improved to 5-1 by working two innings and giving up one hit and one walk. The junior totaled two of the Cardinals' five punchouts, too. Kramer faced just 11 batters in his three innings of work and issued a pair of walks on 34 pitches.

Jenkins (1-3) was hit with the loss after he allowed seven hits, three runs and a walk. Krogh, Montalbano and Rodriguez each went 2-for-4 while Krogh added two runs.

GAME TWO: St. Lawrence 7, Plattsburgh State 4 (6 inn.)
A back-and-forth second game saw the Saints get the last laugh with three runs through the fifth and sixth frames to emerge as the winners.

Once again, though, Plattsburgh State jumped out to an early lead – this time thanks to two of the three St. Lawrence errors in the game. Lupo sent a one-out double down the left field line for the Cardinals' only hit of the first. Both Chris Pescetti and Montalbano reached on throwing errors and each one of those errors produced a run which allowed the Cardinals to grab a 2-0 lead.

This time, though, the Saints weren't too keen on waiting until the last stages of the game to conjure up some runs. Plattsburgh State's starting arm Sean Howard was forced to face seven St. Lawrence batters in the bottom of the first and a wild pitch by the freshman allowed Mic Regan to score from third and make it a 2-1 game.

Errors by the Cardinals accounted for the final two St. Lawrence runs of the frame which helped the home team grab a 3-2 lead.

The Cardinals battled back in the top of the second as they tacked on another pair of scores to regain the lead. Krogh led off the frame with a two-bagger to right-center before Boccini drew a walk. Latulipe moved the two runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, and an infield single by Lupo coupled with a wild pitch by Frank Grady pushed both baserunners across home plate.

Regan knotted things in the home half of the second when his infield single with no outs scored Fernandez. Howard was able to work out of the bases-loaded jam by inducing two fly ball outs and catching a St. Lawrence runner in a rundown.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, their bats went quiet for the remainder of the game. Boccini was the only other baserunner the visitors would get in the game thanks to his one-out hit to center field.

St. Lawrence, though, was far from done. Plattsburgh State reliever Mitch Crispens took over in the third and held the Saints in check until the fifth inning rolled around. After registering the first pair of outs, Crispens allowed a double, a walk and hit a batter to load the bases. Isaac Lewis then laced a two-run single to center field, putting the home team up 6-4.

Mark Syron closed out the scoring when he hammered a solo homerun beyond the fence in right field.

Plattsburgh State scored three in the top of the seventh to tie the game, but the game was called due to darkness shortly after the Cardinals' last-ditch heroics. By rule, the game reverted back to the last full inning complete which, regrettably for the Cardinals, happened to be the sixth.

The Cardinals compiled just four hits in the loss and allowed 10 to the Saints. Crispens (0-1) took the loss while Alex Dermody (4-2) worked 1.2 innings of relief to earn the win. Liam Rogers picked up his first save of the season by throwing a one, two, three sixth.

With their most recent non-conference series in the books, the Cardinals will return to Chip Cummings Field with one goal in mind – punching a ticket to the SUNYAC Baseball Championship Tournament. All the squad needs to do is win one game of its upcoming three-game series with the number-one ranked team in all the land in SUNY Cortland. The set begins with a doubleheader at noon on Saturday, but before the first pitch is thrown, the Cardinals will honor their 10-member senior class with a short ceremony.