KING'S POINT, N.Y. – First-year head coach Sam Quinn-Loeb earned his first wins as a collegiate skipper, as the Plattsburgh State baseball team swept St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) College in a non-conference doubleheader on Sunday afternoon at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. The Cardinals won, 14-2, in game one before completing the sweep with a 6-5 triumph in game two.
 
Plattsburgh State rises to 2-2 overall with the wins and opens up action at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational on Friday, March 11, at 4 p.m. against Gallaudet University in Winter Haven, Fla. St. Joseph's falls to 0-4 overall with the losses and next visits John Jay College on Saturday, March 12, for a 12 p.m. doubleheader.
 
Game 1: Plattsburgh State 14, St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) 2
 
Junior right fielder Conner Gonzalski (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) went 3-for-4 with three RBI, three runs scored and two triples to help spur an 18-hit effort for Plattsburgh State in game one. The Cardinals set a single-game program record for triples in a game with four.
 
Gonzalski drove in the first run of the game, tripling to right center to score sophomore second baseman Francesco Geraci (Bayport, N.Y./Bayport-Blue Point). A pair of miscues by the Bears' catcher allowed two more runs to cross in the first, as the Cardinals led, 3-0, after a half inning of play. Senior left fielder Nolan De Melfi (Shirley, N.Y./William Floyd) singled in a run in the top half of the second to make it a 4-0 game before St. Joseph's cut the lead in half with a pair of runs in the home half of the inning.
 
Plattsburgh State pulled away with a three-run fourth. Geraci pushed across junior center fielder Daniel Cardito (Malverne, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) before Gonzalski tripled in Geraci. Sophomore first baseman Zachary Stone (New Spring Hill, Fla./Weeki Wachee) extended the Cardinal edge to 7-2 with an RBI single to center field that drove in Gonzalski. Plattsburgh State scored two more runs in the sixth and five more runs in the seventh to add insurance.
 
In addition to Gonzalski, Geraci, senior shortstop Christian Lent (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place), De Melfi, Stone, sophomore third baseman Nick Cergol (Mount Sinai, N.Y./Mt. Sinai), senior catcher Jacob Hutton (Albany, N.Y./Colonie Central) and Cardito all had multi-hit games, while sophomore center fielder Anthony Hernandez went 2-for-3 to lead the Bears.
 
Senior pitcher Sean Malamud (Staten Island, N.Y./Susan E. Wagner) earned his first win as a Cardinal, hurling a seven-inning complete game. He scattered eight hits and struck out four while walking just one batter. St. Joseph's utilized four pitchers in the loss with junior Matt McHugh being the pitcher of record.
 
Game 2: Plattsburgh State 6, St. Joseph's (Brooklyn) 5
 
The Cardinals rallied from two runs down after four innings of play, scoring the tying run in the fifth and the eventual winning run in the sixth.
 
Lent used an RBI triple to drive in Gonzalski with one out in the top of the fifth, and Lent came around to score during the ensuing at-bat to tie the game. In the sixth, Cergol got hit by a pitch before junior catcher Kaden Kowalowski (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Beekmantown) put runners on first and second with a bunt single. Junior center fielder Mike Rasquin (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) then ripped a single up the middle to plate Cergol, which gave the Cardinals a lead they would not relinquish.
 
Lent gave Plattsburgh State an early 1-0 lead by scoring on a double steal, while first-year third baseman Kyle Cremin (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) drove in De Melfi two batters later with an RBI single. St. Joseph's scored a run in the bottom of the first and took the lead with a pair of RBI singles in the home half of the third. Kowalowski tied the game at 3-all with a triple in the top of the fourth, but the Bears countered with two runs in the bottom of the inning.
 
Kowalowski batted 3-for-3 with an RBI to lead the Cardinals, while Cremin also notched multiple hits, going 2-for-3. Junior third baseman Chris Leary and first-year second baseman Michael Gardener each batted 2-for-3 to lead St. Joseph's.
 
Senior pitcher Peter Gregory (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) earned the win on the mound for Plattsburgh State, allowing just one hit while striking out three in 3 2/3 frames of relief work. Sophomore pitcher Thomas Gamba-Ellis sustained the loss for St. Joseph's in two-thirds of an inning.