Plattsburgh, N.Y. - Sean Malamud (Staten Island, NY/Susan E. Wagner) went the distance for Plattsburgh State Baseball (17-15,6-9) in the rubber match series finale to defeat Oneonta (12-23, 5-13) and take home the series win. After losing the first game of the day on Saturday 10-2, the team bounced back to take the series finale 9-2 and keep their playoff hopes alive, as they now have an identical record in conference play to New Paltz. 

Malamud went a career-high nine innings at Plattsburgh, struck out a career-high six batters, and did not give up an earned run over his nine frames of the work for the win. Six Cardinal hitters had multi-hit games in the series finale as the team rapped out 14 hits in the win. In the game one loss, Conner Gonzalski (Cicero, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) stayed ultra-hot, going 3-4 with an RBI.

Game One: Oneonta 10, Plattsburgh 2

The Red Dragons needed just their eight-run fourth inning to take home the game one win, as they sent 13 batters to the plate in the frame, scoring eight runs on eight hits. Oneonta's first baseman Sean Liquori lead the charge for the Red Dragons as he finished 4-4 with three doubles in the first game of the day. 

Offensively, the Cardinals struggled to find the big hit in game one, stranding eight batters over seven innings. Alex Kornblau (Pound Ridge, NY/Fox Lane) drove in the first run of the game for Plattsburgh in the fifth to make the score 9-1 and Gonzalski drove in a run in the seventh with his third hit of the day. 

Ryan Lawyer (Schenectady, NY/Colonie Central) was strong in relief for the Cards, throwing two innings of scoreless relief. Christian Lent (Miller Place, NY/Miller Place) and Mike Rasquin (Garden City, NY/Garden City) each had a hit and run scored in the game one loss. 

Game Two: Plattsburgh 9, Oneonta 2

Malamud was huge for the Cardinals with his complete-game effort, as he became the first Plattsburgh pitcher to throw nine-innings since Frank Finkbeiner '19 went nine innings against Fredonia on 4/21/19 in an extra-inning win. 

On the offensive side, the Cards did most of their damage in a five-run fourth inning, which was all of the run support Malamud would need. Gonzalski scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the first when an errant throw on a fielder's choice allowed him to score. 

After the Red Dragons tied the score in the third, the Cards responded with five runs in the fourth. A leadoff walk and Jacob Hutton (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) infield single set the table for Plattsburgh as they both advanced a base on an Oneonta error. Rasquin scored the first run of the inning in the next at-bat, as he drove a single to right, scoring a Cardinal run. Kornblau followed with a single through the left side to score Hutton and Gonzalski backed that up with a sac fly to bring home another run, putting Plattsburgh up 4-1. Kyle Cremin (Yorktown Heights, NY/Kennedy Catholic) then lined a single down the left-field line to bring home Kornblau, forcing a pitching change from the Red Dragons. Another run scored in the inning on a passed ball, giving the Cardinals a 6-1 lead, one they would not relinquish. 

Plattsburgh would go on to add three more runs through the game as Malamud continued to dominate the Oneonta bats. The Cards got two in the sixth when Cremin and Steve Messerschmitt (Fishkill, NY/Carmel) each posted back-to-back run-scoring singles through the right side. The Cardinals got their final run in the eighth when Messerschmitt hit a line drive off the pitcher's leg, allowing Gonzalski to score the ninth run of the game from third. 

Cremin and Messerschmitt each had three hits and drove in two runs for the Cards as Cremin also scored a run. Kornblau, Gonzalski, Hutton, and Rasquin all had two hits each with all but Hutton driving in a run. 

Gonzalski has been on an absolute tear this week as he had five hits in eight at-bats today. He has had multiple hits in six straight games and is 14-25 in that stretch, with nine extra-base hits and nine runs batted in. The junior has raised his season batting average from .293 to .353 in that span. 

The Cardinals have three non-conference games left, as they head to Canton tomorrow, May 1 for a doubleheader with the Roos and will also play St. Lawrence on the road on May 4th. The team will host SUNY Brockport on May 6 and 7 for huge series with the Golden Eagles. Plattsburgh, who is currently 6-9 in conference play, will have to finish with one more win than New Paltz to qualify for the SUNYAC playoffs, as they hold an identical conference record and have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Cardinals. New Paltz will finish up their season as they will play hots to #5 Cortland.