PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The seventh inning has not been kind to the Plattsburgh State baseball team all season long, and that trend continued on Tuesday against St. Lawrence as the Saints scored nine times in the top of the seventh en route to a 12-2 victory over the Cardinals at Chip Cummings Field.
Plattsburgh State sees its record fall to 3-21 while St. Lawrence picks up its seventh win of the season, improving to 7-13.
For the third straight game, sophomore
Jack Tolosky registered a base hit, and is now 5 for his last 10. The Plattsburgh, N.Y., product has seen his average jump nearly .100 points higher since the Cardinals' homestand began on Saturday.
With all of his outings coming in a relief role thus far, senior
Fumiya Nakano started on the mound for the first time this season. The Hyogo, Japan native allowed two runs on five hits, walking two batters.
The Saints jumped out front in their first at bat, as Mic Regan was driven in by Michael LeFevre with two outs in the top of the first. The hit was one of five on the afternoon for LeFevre as he was a perfect 5-for-5 at the dish and finished with 3 RBI.
Nakano issued a walk to begin the fourth, followed by a stolen base and single, setting up first and third with no outs for the visitors. Anthony Butler would ground one to second, forcing a runner out at second base but scoring the runner from third put the Saints up 2-0. Nakano retired the next two batters in order to close out his day.
Tolosky began the home fourth with a hard-hit single to center and would then steal second base. Junior
T.J. Montalbano dropped down a bunt, which he would beat out for a single. On the play, however, St. Lawrence pitcher Frank Grady fired the ball down the right field line, scoring Tolosky to get Plattsburgh State on the board.
After the Cardinals' next batter
Billy Rombauts showed bunt but pulled back, the Saints were unprepared on defense, and Montalbano would easily take third base. Rombauts grounded out to short on the next pitch, but scoring on the play was Montalbano as Plattsburgh State tied the game at 2-2.
St. Lawrence jumped right back out in front in the top of the fifth though when Kyle MacDonald shot a single to right field off of
Jon Craft that scored Taylor Digilio.
The Cardinals produced an opportunity in the sixth after Tolosky picked up his second hit of the game with one out, advanced to second on a balk, and then to third on a wild pitch. Plattsburgh State though was unable to come up with a two-out hit.
Craft went back out to the mound for the top of the seventh, but after allowing a leadoff hit and error on a pickoff attempt, would be replaced by freshman
Matt Fox. Fox, who owns all three Cardinal victories this season, struggled in the relief outing, as he did not retire any of the four batters he faced and left with the bases loaded with St. Lawrence leading 5-2.
Senior
Andrew Kramer came in for Fox, and was unable to work his way out of the jam. Following an infield single to score a run that made it 6-2, Digilio delivered the biggest knock of the game; a triple that sailed over
Kilvio Garcia's head, clearing the bases and breaking the game open at 9-2.
The Saints weren't done as they scored three more times to complete the nine-run seventh to take a commanding 12-2 lead.
Plattsburgh State only notched one hit over the final three innings, and that runner would be immediately erased on a double play.
Ryan Whalen pitched the final 2 2/3 innings for the Cardinals, and at times looked sharp, striking out four Saints during the appearance.
Tolosky finished 2-for-4 with a run scored while Montalbano had a hit in four at-bats and scored the other Cardinal run.
The Cardinals will head down to Saratoga Springs on Wednesday to play Skidmore in a game that was originally scheduled for last Wednesday, but was postponed due to poor weather conditions. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
