GENESEO, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State softball team kept its State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Tournament hopes alive on Sunday afternoon, splitting a conference doubleheader with defending SUNYAC champion SUNY Geneseo at Vic Raschi Field. The Cardinals won game one, 12-11, before falling 4-3 in game two.
 
Plattsburgh State moves to 13-17 overall (7-9 SUNYAC) with the results and faces a critical doubleheader tomorrow against The College at Brockport to close the regular season. The Cardinals will earn the final spot into the SUNYAC Tournament with a sweep over the Golden Eagles, while Fredonia will overtake them for the last spot in the tournament if they are swept. If Plattsburgh State splits with Brockport, its fate will rest on the SUNY Cortland-Oswego State doubleheader tomorrow, based on the fact that Fredonia and Plattsburgh State would be tied in points in the final conference standings. In that scenario, if Cortland sweeps the doubleheader, the Blue Devils will qualify, while if Oswego sweeps the twinbill, the Cardinals will qualify. If Plattsburgh State splits with Brockport and Cortland splits with Oswego, a coin flip will occur to determine whether the Cardinals or Blue Devils will earn the final spot in the tournament. Geneseo finishes its regular season at 30-8 overall (14-4 SUNYAC) and will await the results of the Cortland-Oswego doubleheader to find out if it will be the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the SUNYAC Tournament.
 
Game 1: Plattsburgh State 12, Geneseo 11
 
In a wild back-and-forth affair in game one, the Cardinals overcame a pair of deficits—6-2 and 11-8—to come away with the victory.
 
Geneseo got on the board with two runs in the bottom of the first, as senior left fielder Danni Napoli drove in a run with an RBI groundout before junior first baseman Abbey Whitney plated a second with an RBI single up the middle. Junior designated player Haleigh Agans (Brasher Falls, N.Y./St. Lawrence Central) ripped a two-run homer to center field in the top of the second to tie the score, while the Knights pushed three runs across in the bottom of the second on the strength of a two-run double by junior designated player Ashlyn Kersch and an RBI double by Napoli.
 
Plattsburgh State swung the momentum in its favor with a six-run fifth. Senior catcher Anna Fisher (Brockport, N.Y./Brockport) scored the first run of the inning, coming around on an error, while senior left fielder Jennifer Groat (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) and freshman first baseman Alex McKearin (Valatie, N.Y./Ichabod Crane) blasted back-to-back RBI doubles. Agans and Fisher wrapped up the inning with RBI base knocks, with sophomore third baseman Bella Spadinger (Loudonville, N.Y./Shaker) coming around to score the final run of the frame on a mishandled ball by an outfielder on Fisher's hit.
 
The bottom of the sixth saw the momentum seesaw back into Geneseo's favor, as the Knights put up five runs in the inning. Kersch, Napoli and junior right fielder Hannah Elmer started the offensive surge with back-to-back-to-back RBI doubles, while senior second baseman Kylie Papagelos made it an 11-8 game with a two-run double to left field later on in the inning.
 
The Cardinals provided the decisive swing of momentum in the top of the seventh. Agans drove in senior center fielder Amy Glashoff (Montrose, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) with a single to right field, while Spadinger scored on an error during the ensuing at-bat. Senior shortstop Kaitlyn Preiss (Cornwall, N.Y./Cornwall) plated the tying and winning runs during the next at-bat with the lineup turning over, giving the Cardinals a 12-11 lead they would not relinquish in the home half of the inning.
 
Agans and Preiss both led the Plattsburgh State offense with three hits apiece. Agans batted 3-for-4 with four RBI, one run scored and a home run, while Preiss went 3-for-5 with two RBI, two doubles and one run scored. For Geneseo, Persich and Kersch each went 4-for-5.
 
Freshman pitcher Hannah Fuerst (West Seneca, N.Y./West Seneca East) earned the win, drawing the start before reentering the game and pitching the final two innings. She allowed six runs on 12 hits and a walk while striking out one in four innings of work. Sophomore pitcher Nicole Schwartz, who entered the game in relief and threw the seventh inning, was tagged with the loss for Geneseo.
 
Game 2: Geneseo 4, Plattsburgh State 3
 
While Plattsburgh State tied the game at 3-3 in the top of the seventh, the Knights got a walk-off single with one out in the bottom of the inning to take game two, 4-3.
 
Elmer gave Geneseo an early 1-0 lead with an RBI single to center field in the bottom of the first, while Papagelos padded the Knight cushion in the fourth with a two-run home run to left. Preiss drove in Fisher with a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth to put the Cardinals on the board before McKearin came up with a two-out, two-run single in the top of the seventh to keep Plattsburgh State's hopes alive.
 
After the Cardinals retired the first out of the inning in the bottom of the seventh, the Knights used an error to set up Napoli's game-winning hit, as Kersch came around to score from second on a ball hit to left field.
 
McKearin keyed the Plattsburgh State attack, going 2-for-4 with two RBI, while Napoli (2-for-4, one RBI) and Papagelos (2-for-3, two RBI, one run scored, one home run) led the Geneseo offense.
 
Fuerst was tagged with the loss, yielding three runs on five hits and two walks in 3 1/3 innings of work, while freshman pitcher Elliana Bowlen (Keeseville, N.Y./AuSable Valley) gave up just one unearned run on four hits in three innings of relief. Kersch earned the game-two victory for the Knights, permitting three runs (two earned) on seven hits while striking out seven.