KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Plattsburgh State softball team will head north on a three-game win streak, as the Cardinals swept a pair of contests on its final day at the Sunkissed Games Saturday. The Cardinals topped Skidmore College, 11-1, in five innings before defeating Salve Regina University, 16-1, in five innings.
 
Plattsburgh State rises to 6-8 overall and opens up State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play against The College at Brockport on Friday, March 30, with a 3 p.m. doubleheader that is slated to take place at Cardinal Park. Skidmore slips to 4-5 overall with the loss, while Salve Regina drops to 1-9 overall with the setback.
 
Plattsburgh State 11, Skidmore 1 (5 inn.)
 
The Cardinals relied on 12 hits in the first game of the day to come away with an 11-1 win in five innings over Skidmore.
 
Plattsburgh State wasted no time getting on the board, scoring three runs in the first. Senior designated player Taylor Smith (Washingtonville, N.Y./Washingtonville) drove in two runs on a single, while senior right fielder Amanda Tantillo (Florida, N.Y./S.S. Seward) scored Smith with an RBI base knock.
 
Skidmore got one back in the third with an RBI single by sophomore right fielder Emily Popp, while the Cardinals tacked on two more runs in the home half of the third on RBI base hits by junior first baseman Jennifer Groat (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) and freshman second baseman Shannon Myles (Levittown, N.Y./MacArthur).
 
Plattsburgh State broke the game open with a six-run fourth. Junior shortstop Kaitlyn Preiss (Cornwall, N.Y./Cornwall) drew a bases-loaded walk to start the surge, while senior center fielder Dominique Zummo (Commack, N.Y./St. Anthony's) cleared the bases with a three-run triple the next at-bat. Zummo ended up stealing home before Smith drove in Groat with a sacrifice fly to make it an 11-1 game. The Cardinals retired the side in order in the top of the fifth to enact the run rule.
 
Every Cardinal starter had a hit, while Zummo, Groat and Tantillo each had multiple base knocks. Five different Thoroughbreds tallied a hit.
 
Senior pitcher Katie Pitkin (Dexter, N.Y./General Brown) yielded just one run on five hits and three walks while striking out five to earn the win for Plattsburgh State, while senior pitcher Amanda Carilli shouldered the loss for Skidmore.
 
Plattsburgh State 16, Salve Regina 1 (5 inn.)
 
Sophomore pitcher Rhea Pitkin (Dexter, N.Y./General Brown) and Smith threw a combined no-hitter in the nightcap, as the Cardinals defeated Salve Regina, 16-1, in five innings in the nightcap.
 
Zummo kicked off scoring in the game with a two-run single in the second, while junior left fielder Jennifer Sarcone (Centereach, N.Y./Newfield) pushed across two runs and Myles drove in a third in a three-run third inning for the Cardinals. Salve Regina erased the shutout bid in the third on a sacrifice fly by sophomore pinch hitter/second baseman Allie Gusmano.
 
Plattsburgh State broke the game open with 10 runs in the fourth. Groat, Smith, senior third baseman Jackie Decker (Adams, N.Y./South Jefferson), Sarcone, Myles and Preiss all had RBI in the inning, as the Cardinals batted around the order. Preiss spelled the final score with an RBI infield single in the fifth.
 
Preiss and Groat each led the Cardinal attack with three-hit games. Preiss went 3-for-5 with two RBI and one run scored, while Groat batted 3-for-4 with two runs scored, an RBI and a double.
 
Rhea Pitkin was credited with the win, allowing a run on no hits, three walks and a hit by pitch, while Smith tossed 2 2/3 innings of hitless and scoreless relief. Three pitchers threw for Salve Regina in the loss.