GENESEO, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State softball team came away with a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) doubleheader sweep over SUNY Geneseo on Sunday at Vic Raschi Field, winning the first game, 1-0, before taking game two, 10-4.
 
Plattsburgh State rises to 14-10 overall (5-1 SUNYAC) with the wins and next takes on The College at Brockport in a conference twinbill at Geneseo tomorrow at 10 a.m. Geneseo drops to 11-5 overall (2-2 SUNYAC) with the losses and next hosts SUNY Potsdam tomorrow in a 2 p.m. doubleheader.
 
Game 1: Plattsburgh State 1, Geneseo 0
 
Freshman first baseman Haleigh Agans (Brasher Falls, N.Y./St. Lawrence Central) went 2-for-3 and drove in the game's only run, while junior pitcher Katie Pitkin (Dexter, N.Y./General Brown) threw a two-hit, complete-game shutout in the Cardinals' 1-0 win in the front end of the doubleheader.
 
In the fourth, sophomore catcher Jennifer Groat (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) led off the inning with a single through the left side, and junior third baseman Jackie Decker (Adams, N.Y./South Jefferson) moved her into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. After junior center fielder Dominique Zummo (Commack, N.Y./St. Anthony's) advanced Groat to third with a fly out to right field, Agans came up with an RBI double down the left-field line to stake Plattsburgh State to a 1-0 lead. That advantage would hold down the stretch, as the Cardinals edged Geneseo in game one.
 
Pitkin, the SUNYAC leader in wins, improved to 8-3 for the season, and she also struck out seven batters in the victory. Her counterpart, sophomore pitcher Taylor Moore, was saddled with the loss, yielding one run on five hits and two walks while striking out four.
 
Game 2: Plattsburgh State 10, Geneseo 4
 
After Geneseo scored a run in the bottom of the first in game two, freshman right fielder Taylor Fischer (Cottekill, N.Y./Rondout Valley) blasted a grand slam in the second to give Plattsburgh State the lead, and the Cardinals never trailed from that point forward in a 10-4 triumph.
 
Following Fischer's momentum-swinging grand slam in the second, Agans pushed across in a run with a single to center field in the third, and four batters later, Fischer drove in one run while junior pinch runner Ashley Bartnik (Selden, N.Y./Newfield) also scored to give the Cardinals a 7-1 advantage.
 
The Knights got three runs back in the third with a sacrifice fly by freshman shortstop Maddison Tucker, an RBI single by freshman pitcher/right fielder Ashlyn Kersch and a steal of home by Kersch, but that would be as close as Geneseo would get down the stretch, as Zummo drove in a run in the fourth before plating two additional runners in the sixth on a double.
 
The Cardinals scattered 13 hits in the contest, with Zummo going 3-for-4 with three RBI and a double, Fischer batting 2-for-4 with five RBI, a home run and a run scored, sophomore shortstop Kaitlyn Preiss (Cornwall, N.Y./Cornwall) hitting 2-for-3 with two runs scored, Agans finishing 2-for-3 with an RBI and Decker going 2-for-4 with one run scored. Senior first baseman Abby Dennett went 2-for-3 to pace the Knight bats.
 
Freshman pitcher Rhea Pitkin (Dexter, N.Y./General Brown) earned the win, yielding four runs (three earned) on seven hits and three walks while striking out one in 4 1/3 frames of duty, while junior pitcher Taylor Smith (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville) picked up her SUNYAC-leading fourth save of the season, allowing just one hit in 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Smith slides into a tie for fourth in the program's record book for single-season saves, with Jaclyn Leitze and Stephanie Zweig most recently posting four saves apiece during the 2006 season.
 
Kersch took the loss for Geneseo in 3 1/3 innings pitched.