MINNEOLA, Fla. – The Plattsburgh State softball team kicked off the second leg of its Spring Break trip on Wednesday at the National Training Center Spring Games with a pair of victories, topping Manhattanville College, 5-4, before downing Bethany College, 7-1.
 
Plattsburgh State rises to 5-5 with the wins and continues action at the NTC Spring Games tomorrow, facing off with Framingham State University (1 p.m.) and the Rochester Institute of Technology (6 p.m.). Manhattanville falls to 5-7 and Bethany drops to 2-6 with the losses.
 
Game 1: Plattsburgh State 5, Manhattanville 4
 
Plattsburgh State scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth to vault itself to a 5-4 win over Manhattanville in the first game of the day.
 
After the Valiants claimed a 4-3 lead with two runs in the top of the fifth, the Cardinals benefited from a Manhattanville throwing error to kick off the home half of the inning. Following a fielder's choice, junior third baseman Jackie Decker (Adams, N.Y./South Jefferson) drove in junior center fielder Dominique Zummo (Commack, N.Y./St. Anthony's) with an RBI double to tie the game. Junior first baseman Kelsey Gage (Pine Bush, N.Y./Pine Bush) sustained a hit by pitch before junior left fielder Felicia Torres (Middletown, N.Y./Pine Bush) pushed across Decker to give Plattsburgh State the lead.
 
The Cardinals kept the Valiants off the scoreboard from that point forward, and Plattsburgh State emerged with the victory.
 
Manhattanville received back-to-back RBI singles from junior shortstop Laurel Coito and sophomore right fielder Alexa Grniet to kick off scoring in the second, while Plattsburgh State countered with a pair of RBI base knocks by sophomore shortstop Kaitlyn Preiss (Cornwall, N.Y./Cornwall) and sophomore catcher Jennifer Groat (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) in the bottom of the third to tie the game. Preiss pushed across another run in the bottom of the fourth to give the Cardinals a 3-2 lead, but the Valiants used a two-run double by freshman catcher Melina Strano to capture a 4-3 edge.
 
Preiss paced the Cardinal attack with a 3-for-3 outing at the plate, driving in two runs while scoring once. She also drew a walk and recorded a double. Both Grniet (2-for-4) and Strano (2-for-3) had multiple hits for Manhattanville.
 
Junior pitcher Katie Pitkin (Dexter, N.Y./General Brown) earned the win in the circle for Plattsburgh State, yielding four runs (two earned) on eight hits, two walks and two hit by pitches while striking out eight. Manhattanville used two pitchers in the loss, with sophomore pitcher Aarin Hartenstein being the pitcher of record in three innings of relief work.
 
Game 2: Plattsburgh State 7, Bethany 1
 
Freshman first baseman Haleigh Agans (Brasher Falls, N.Y./St. Lawrence Central), Preiss, Groat, Zummo, Torres and freshman left fielder Taylor Fischer (Cottekill, N.Y./Rondout Valley) each finished with multiple hits in the nightcap for the Cardinals, with Agans going 3-for-4, Preiss going 2-for-5, Groat going 2-for-3, Zummo going 2-for-4, Torres going 2-for-4 and Fischer going 2-for-4. Plattsburgh State pounded out 14 hits as a team.
 
Junior pitcher Taylor Smith (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville) earned the win in the circle in five innings of relief, scattering three hits and allowing just one run while striking out two.