CORTLAND, N.Y. – A game-tying home run by junior center fielder Dominique Zummo (Commack, N.Y./St. Anthony's) and a walk-off double by freshman first baseman Haleigh Agans (Brasher Falls, N.Y./St. Lawrence Central) in the bottom of the seventh lifted the third-seeded Plattsburgh State softball team to a 5-4 win over fourth-seeded Buffalo State in its State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Tournament opener on Thursday afternoon at SUNY Cortland's Dragon Field.
 
Plattsburgh State rises to 24-17 overall with the win and will face second-seeded Oswego State tomorrow at 11 a.m., weather permitting. Buffalo State drops to 15-22 overall with the loss and will look to stave off elimination tomorrow when it takes on top-seeded Cortland at 9 a.m., weather permitting.
 
The Cardinals took a 3-0 lead into the top of the seventh, but the Bengals' offense came to life to keep them in the game. Sophomore pitcher Allie Block walked to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Junior first baseman Nicole Adams then drove in Block with a double to left center before freshman catcher Kaelee Lynch plated Adams with a single to right center to draw Buffalo State within one.
 
Junior pitcher Taylor Smith (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville) then entered the game, striking out two straight batters to put the Bengals on the ropes. Sophomore shortstop Julia Blujus walked and senior center fielder Laura Crooks singled to load the bases before sophomore third baseman Cassandra O'Hern drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game at 3-all. Another bases-loaded pass was issued—this time to junior left fielder Danielle Szymkowiak—before a groundout to Smith ended the inning.
 
The outlook appeared bleak for the Cardinals in the bottom of the seventh with two groundouts to third to start the inning. Then, down to their last strike with a 1-2 count, the Cardinals relied on Zummo's solo home run to center field to knot the tally at 4-all. Sophomore catcher Jennifer Groat (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) doubled to right center before Agans brought her in on a game-ending, RBI double to center field.
 
After four-and-a-half scoreless innings, sophomore left fielder Amy Glashoff (Montrose, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) put Plattsburgh State on the board in the fifth with an RBI single to left center that drove in junior designated player Kelsey Gage (Pine Bush, N.Y./Pine Bush), and during the ensuing at-bat, sophomore shortstop Kaitlyn Preiss (Cornwall, N.Y./Cornwall) scored Glashoff with a single to left center. Groat made it a 3-0 game in the sixth with a solo home run.
 
Groat keyed the Cardinal attack by going 3-for-4 with two runs scored, two doubles and an RBI, while Preiss and Agans each notched multiple hits. Zummo, junior right fielder Amanda Tantillo (Florida, N.Y./S.S. Seward) and Glashoff also reached the hit column. For Buffalo State, Crooks went 3-for-4 with three singles.
 
Freshman pitcher Rhea Pitkin (Dexter, N.Y./General Brown) threw six innings in a no-decision, yielding three runs on four hits and four walks while striking out five. Smith earned the win in one inning of relief. Block, the SUNYAC leader in strikeouts, shouldered the loss for the Bengals, allowing five runs (four earned) on 10 hits while striking out four.