TROY, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State softball team split a non-conference doubleheader against the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Wednesday at Doris Robison Field, falling by a 7-6 final in game one before bouncing back with a 6-5 victory in game two.
Plattsburgh State moves to 12-10 overall with the results and next takes on The College at Brockport on SUNY Geneseo's campus on Saturday, April 8, for a 3 p.m. doubleheader. RPI moves to 10-4 with the results and opens up Liberty League play on Sunday, April 9, with a 1 p.m. home doubleheader against St. Lawrence University.
Game 1: RPI 7, Plattsburgh State 6
RPI scored twice in the sixth inning to take the lead, and the Engineers kept the Cardinals from pushing across the game-tying run in the seventh to win the first contest of the afternoon by a score of 7-6.
Freshman first baseman
Haleigh Agans (Brasher Falls, N.Y./St. Lawrence Central) plated the game's first run in the top of the second, scoring junior right fielder
Amanda Tantillo (Florida, N.Y./S.S. Seward), but RPI scratched across four runs in the home half of the inning to claim a 4-1 advantage. The Cardinals tied the game in the third, however, as sophomore catcher
Jennifer Groat (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) blasted a solo homer and Agans pushed across two runs with a double.
Both Groat and sophomore shortstop
Kaitlyn Preiss (Cornwall, N.Y./Cornwall) used heads-up base running to score in the fourth to give Plattsburgh State a 6-4 edge before RPI's junior designated player Chelsea Elliott cut the gap to one with a solo home run in the fifth. The Engineers tied the game on a double by senior pitcher Stephanie Caudle in the sixth, and later on in the inning, freshman third baseman Allie Hunt drove in what ended up being the game-winning run by drawing a bases-loaded walk.
Agans keyed the Cardinal attack by going 2-for-3 with three RBI, while Preiss, Groat and sophomore designated player
Amy Glashoff (Montrose, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) also notched hits. Six different Engineers recorded a hit in the contest.
Freshman pitcher
Rhea Pitkin (Dexter, N.Y./General Brown) did not earn a decision, throwing 2 1/3 innings, while junior pitcher
Taylor Smith (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville) was saddled with the loss in 3 2/3 frames of relief, yielding three runs (two earned) on five hits and three walks while striking out two. For RPI, Caudle allowed six runs on five hits and seven walks while striking out six in a full seven innings of duty.
Game 2: Plattsburgh State 6, RPI 5
The Cardinals jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the nightcap and held off RPI in the late innings to pull out the victory.
Junior third baseman
Kelsey Gage (Pine Bush, N.Y./Pine Bush) opened scoring in the top of the first by plating Groat on a squeeze bunt, but RPI took the lead in the bottom half of the inning on a two-run home run by Caudle. Plattsburgh State then received a solo home run from senior first baseman
Hope VanBrocklin (Dexter, N.Y./General Brown) in the second and two-run homers from Gage and Agans in the third to construct a 6-2 advantage.
RPI scored a run on a sacrifice in the fifth and an error in the sixth before junior catcher Christine White stole home in the seventh to make it a one-run game. After White stole home, the Cardinals recorded two straight outs to pull out the victory.
Groat led the Plattsburgh State bats by going 2-for-4 with two runs scored, a double and a triple, while RPI had five different individuals tally a hit.
Pitkin earned the win in the circle in game two, permitting three runs on four hits and three walks while striking out three in 4 1/3 innings of work, while Smith tossed the final 2 2/3 innings to earn the save, yielding two runs on one hit and one walk while striking out two. Freshman pitcher Jaime Cleasby sustained the loss for RPI, while junior pitcher Sarah Harms was effective in 4 2/3 innings of relief, surrendering just three walks and one hit.
