AUBURNDALE, Fla. – The Plattsburgh State baseball team lost twice to the College at Brockport, 6-4 and 6-2, in a pair of State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) games at Lake Myrtle Park on Friday. The Cardinals, who were the designated visitors, slip to 3-6 overall and 0-2 in the league, while the Golden Eagles are 9-5 and 2-0. This was the sixth straight season that Plattsburgh State began its conference slate while in Florida.
In game one, Plattsburgh State freshman
Justin Adams (Valhalla, N.Y./Westlake) went 3-for-4 with three RBIs, while classmate
Stephen Bryant (Center Moriches, N.Y./Center Moriches) ripped an RBI single. Junior
Joe Deland (Farmingville, N.Y./Sachem East) had one hit, one sacrifice bunt and one run scored and freshman
Alex Follmer (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Plattsburgh) singled, walked and stole a base. Sophomore
Jon Craft (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) was hit by a pitch and scored a run. Sophomore
Patrick Bryant (Center Moriches, N.Y./Center Moriches/Hofstra) struck out five batters in seven innings for the no decision and freshman
Alec Fauvell (Smithtown, N.Y./Smithtown West) took the loss in relief.
Brockport junior Avery Brooks went 2-for-3 with a double and a stolen base, while classmate Luke Gilbert provided a two-run single and a stolen base. Junior Drew DeBlasiis slugged a two-run home run, while classmate Austin Hall and sophomore Anthony Eaton drew two walks. Senior Paul Ludden scored two runs, singled, was hit by a pitch and stole a base. Senior Austin Spindler threw seven innings and yielded just two earned runs for the no decision while sophomore Jason Hellwig tossed two scoreless frames for the win.
After three scoreless opening innings, Plattsbugh State strung together three straight two-out singles in the fourth, including Adams' go-ahead rip to score senior
T.J. Montalbano (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills West/Jefferson CC). The Cardinals added two more runs in the sixth as Adams dropped in a two-out, two-run single. Brockport scored once in the home half of the sixth before Plattsburgh State scored the next half inning to make the game 4-1. After senior Joe Bender singled to start the bottom of the seventh, DeBlasiis clubbed a two-run blast to right field to pull the Golden Eagles to within one run.
The Cardinals stranded a runner at second in the top of the eighth and the Golden Eagles responded with three runs in the home half to go ahead 6-4. Plattsburgh State then went down in order in the ninth.
In game two, which was a predetermined seven-inning contest, Plattsburgh State freshman
Kentaro Mori (Tokyo, Japan/Joto) doubled twice and scored a run, while Follmer singled and drove in two runs and stole a base. Deland singled and
Patrick Bryant walked and scored a run. Sophomore
Matt Fox (Shoreham, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) allowed three runs and struck out three batters in five innings for the loss, while junior
Jacob Stein (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore/Suffolk County CC) threw a scoreless frame.
Brockport freshman Tom Kretzler had two doubles and two RBIs, while Eaton and Ludden both went 2-for-3. Junior Justin LaRose contributed an RBI double and senior Sam McCumiskey tossed a complete with two runs allowed on four hits and four strikeouts.
The Cardinals grabbed the lead first for the second straight game as Follmer singled in Mori after Mori's two-out double. Brockport equalized in the third on Eaton's two-out RBI single and then went ahead the next inning on LaRosa's one-out RBI double. The Golden Eagles added four runs in the sixth to take a 6-1 lead. Plattsburgh State plated one run in the seventh on Follmer's RBI groundout.
The Cardinals close out their Spring Break trip with a nine-inning meeting against Brockport at 12:45 p.m. on Saturday.
