CORTLAND, N.Y. – The third-seeded Plattsburgh State softball team saw its 2017 season and State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Tournament run come to a close on Sunday afternoon at Dragon Field, falling, 5-4, to top-seeded and host SUNY Cortland in its first contest of the day before dropping a 12-7 decision to sixth-seeded SUNY Oneonta in an elimination game.
As a result of their efforts during the tournament, freshman first baseman
Haleigh Agans (Brasher Falls, N.Y./St. Lawrence Central) and sophomore catcher
Jennifer Groat (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) were named to the All-Tournament Team.
Plattsburgh State finishes its season at 25-19 overall, while Oneonta rises to 25-13 with the win. Oneonta will face off with Cortland for the SUNYAC title at approximately 5:30 p.m.
Game 1: Cortland 5, Plattsburgh State 4
Despite receiving a 4-for-4 and four RBI effort from Agans, Plattsburgh State was edged, 5-4, in the first game of the afternoon against Cortland.
Agans put the Cardinals on the board in the bottom of the first, driving in junior center fielder
Dominique Zummo (Commack, N.Y./St. Anthony's) and sophomore shortstop
Kaitlyn Preiss (Cornwall, N.Y./Cornwall) with a single up the middle. Cortland squared the score at 2-all in the top of the second, however, as senior third baseman Kaleigh Churchill blasted a two-run home run to left field.
In the bottom of the second, Agans struck again to give the Cardinals the lead, this time using a double to plate Groat and Preiss. Cortland scratched a run across in the fourth with an RBI single by junior shortstop Andrea Schoonmaker, and the Red Dragons tied the game in the fifth with a sacrifice fly by senior first baseman Mikayla Shade. During Shade's next at-bat in the top of the seventh, she put Cortland on top with a solo home run to left field, and after yielding a two-out walk in the bottom of the seventh, sophomore pitcher Sam Van Dorn snagged a line drive to end the game.
In addition to Agans, Groat went 2-for-4 with a run scored and a double to help lead a Cardinal attack that scattered 12 hits. Churchill was the lone Red Dragon to have multiple hits with two, while Shade drove in two runs.
Freshman pitcher
Rhea Pitkin (Dexter, N.Y./General Brown) sustained the loss in the circle, yielding five runs on seven hits and six walks while striking out three. Cortland's Van Dorn earned the win, coming in with no outs and two runs across in the first inning before going the rest of the way.
Game 2: Oneonta 12, Plattsburgh State 7
Ten unanswered runs by Oneonta ultimately propelled the Red Dragons to the victory, as they registered 16 hits. Oneonta advanced despite committing five errors, which led to three unearned runs.
Agans once again fired the opening salvo in the nightcap, hitting a three-run home run to left field in the first to stake the Cardinals to an early 3-0 advantage. That home run pushed her RBI total at the SUNYAC Tournament to 10. Oneonta went ahead with a four-run third, relying on an error, an RBI double by senior shortstop Marlene Cuevas, a home run by sophomore first baseman Lauren Sabatino and an RBI single by freshman second baseman Brooke Corbett. Two Cardinal defensive miscues allowed a pair of Red Dragons to score in the fourth, while Oneonta capped off its surge in the fifth with RBI base knocks by senior left fielder Katie O'Gorman, sophomore catcher Selena Ruiz and Sabatino to take a 10-3 lead.
Plattsburgh State got two runs back in the fifth, with Zummo hitting a solo homer to center field and junior designated player
Kelsey Gage (Pine Bush, N.Y./Pine Bush) driving in junior pinch runner
Ashley Bartnik (Selden, N.Y./Newfield) with a single to right to cut the gap to five. Zummo and Groat each drove in runs in the sixth to pull the Cardinals within three at 10-7, but Cuevas and junior designated player Cori McFall added insurance in the seventh with RBI hits.
Zummo was the lone Cardinal to finish with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with three runs scored, two RBI and a home run. Ruiz led the Red Dragon bats by going 4-for-5 with three runs scored and an RBI, while five other Oneonta batters had multiple hits.
Pitkin sustained the loss for Plattsburgh State in 2 2/3 innings of work, while senior pitcher Sabrina DeAngelis picked up the victory for Oneonta in five innings of action.
