PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State softball team dropped a pair of games to No. 22 SUNY Cortland, the two-time defending State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) champions, in a SUNYAC doubleheader on Saturday at Cardinal Park, falling, 5-1, in game one before dropping game two, 8-4.
 
Plattsburgh State falls to 17-13 overall (8-4 SUNYAC) with the losses and next visits Clarkson University on Wednesday, April 19, for a 3 p.m. non-conference doubleheader. Cortland rises to 21-7 overall (10-0 SUNYAC) with the wins and next hosts Ithaca College in a non-conference twinbill on Wednesday, April 19, at 3 p.m.
 
Game 1: No. 22 Cortland 5, Plattsburgh State 1
 
A seventh-inning grand slam by senior right fielder Niki Barbato broke a 1-all tie and helped the Red Dragons capture game one of the doubleheader. Two walks and a single set the stage for Barbato, who lifted an 0-1 pitch over the fence in left-center field.
 
Junior left fielder Skyler Hoyt handed the Red Dragons a 1-0 advantage in the second with a solo home run, while the Cardinals knotted the tally at 1-all in the fifth, as junior designated player Kelsey Gage (Pine Bush, N.Y./Pine Bush) scored on an error.
 
Five different Cardinals registered a hit, including freshman first baseman Haleigh Agans (Brasher Falls, N.Y./St. Lawrence Central), who extended her hitting streak to 16 games. Barbato led the Red Dragon bats by going 2-for-4 with four RBI, a run scored and a home run.
 
Pitkin did not earn a decision, throwing the first 5 1/3 innings before exiting the game following a walk with one out in the sixth. Junior pitcher Taylor Smith (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville) escaped from a bases-loaded jam in the sixth but ended up sustaining the four runs in the seventh before Pitkin reentered and did not allow another run to cross the remainder of the inning. Senior pitcher Jamie Lachall earned the win for Cortland, yielding just one unearned run on five hits while striking out two.
 
Game 2: No. 22 Cortland 8, Plattsburgh State 4
 
Two big innings by Cortland ultimately doomed Plattsburgh State in the nightcap, as the Red Dragons completed the sweep with an 8-4 victory.
 
Cortland put four runs on the board in the first, as junior shortstop Andrea Schoonmaker scored on a wild pitch before Barbato uncorked a three-run home run to left center to pin the Red Dragons to a 4-0 advantage.
 
Plattsburgh State got a run back in the bottom of the first with a sacrifice fly by Agans that scored sophomore shortstop Kaitlyn Preiss (Cornwall, N.Y./Cornwall), while Cortland made it a 5-1 game in the third with a sacrifice fly by Barbato. Agans drove in both sophomore left fielder Jennifer Groat (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) and Preiss on a single to center field in the bottom of the third to close the gap to 5-3, and an RBI double by Groat that plated Preiss in the fourth pulled the Cardinals within one.
 
The Red Dragons' second surge came in the seventh, as three unearned runs came around to score in the inning, and when the dust settled, Cortland had doubled up Plattsburgh State, 8-4. The Red Dragons retired the side in order in the bottom of the seventh on just seven pitches to pull out the sweep.
 
For Plattsburgh State, Groat went 2-for-3 with an RBI, a run scored and a double, while Agans batted 1-for-3 with three RBI. Agans' base knock stretched her hit streak to 17. Cortland's Barbato accounted for five of the team's eight runs on a sacrifice fly, a three-run home run and an RBI fielder's choice, while senior second baseman Rosie Phillips, senior third baseman Kaleigh Churchill and junior catcher Stephanie Tirone all notched multiple hits for the Red Dragons.
 
Freshman pitcher Rhea Pitkin (Dexter, N.Y./General Brown) allowed just one earned run (eight total) while striking out five in the losing effort for Plattsburgh State. Cortland's senior pitcher Alexandrea Flint earned the start and did not earn a decision, handing the ball off to sophomore pitcher Sam Van Dorn, who permitted just one run on three hits while striking out three in five innings of relief to earn the win.