PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. - The Plattsburgh State softball team swept a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) doubleheader over Oswego State on Friday afternoon, winning by final scores of 3-2 and 9-1. The first game was won on a walk-off in the bottom of the ninth inning and the second game was won on a walk-off of sorts, as the Cardinals won by virtue of a run rule, scoring eight runs in the bottom of the fifth to enact the rule. 

For Plattsburgh, Kristina Maggiacomo (South Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) and Julia Golino (Mount Sinai, N.Y./Mount Sinai) led the way both at the plate and in the circle, with each player putting up strong offensive days and earning complete-game wins toeing the rubber. Claire Palmer (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) finished the day 5-9 and upped her season batting average to .510 while Kristen Langdon (Burnt Hills, N.Y./Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) was 2-4 in both games to finish 4-8 in 14 innings of action. 

Plattsburgh improves to 9-3 (2-0 SUNYAC) with the win and will take on SUNY Cortland tomorrow, April 8, in doubleheader action beginning at noon. Oswego State falls to 3-13-1 (0-2 SUNYAC) and will now travel to SUNY Potsdam tomorrow, as they engage in doubleheader action starting at noon.

Game One: Plattsburgh 3, Oswego State 2 (9 innings)

The first game of the day was a pitcher's duel as both Maggiacomo and Fiona Higgins pitched fantastically. The pair held a shutout through seven innings each, with Higgins allowing just one earned run and Maggiacomo allowing zero earned runs overall. Maggiacomo finished the day earning her fourth win of the season, tossing nine innings of three-hit ball, allowing just two unearned runs, while striking out a career-high 12 batters. Higgins matched her inning-for-inning until the ninth, striking out 14 batters while giving up nine hits in 8.1 innings of work. 

Offensively, four players accounted for all of the Cardinal hits, as Palmer was 3-5 with a run scored, Langdon was 2-4 with an RBI, Golino was 2-4 with an RBI, and Rebecca Diller (Halfmoon, N.Y./Shenendehowa) was 2-4 with a double and an RBI. Palmer swiped a bag in game one, while Langdon drew a walk and Golino had the walk-off single to earn the win for Plattsburgh.

After a seven-innings of scoreless baseball, each team scored in the eighth inning to finally break the streak of zeroes on the scoreboard. Oswego came through in the top of the inning with a run scoring on an error to take the first lead of the game and Plattsburgh was able to match the run with an RBI single from Diller, as Maggiacomo scored all the way from second base on an infield hit. 

In the ninth, Oswego once again took a lead, as this time Madison Hoeflich singled to right to bring a run home. After picking up the first out of the inning, Higgins surrendered an infield hit to Palmer to allow the tying run to advance to third. On the next play, Langdon grounded to third, where they attempted to throw the tying run out at home, but Mikayla Manalo (Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem East) was off on contact and was easily safe to tie the game. With the game-winning run now at third base, Golino stepped up to the plate and drove a ball to deep right field well over the fielder's head for a game-winning hit, giving the Cards the win. 

Game Two: Plattsburgh 9, Oswego State 1 (5 innings)

In game two, the Cardinals received a great outing in the circle from their starter, as Golino went five strong, allowing just three hits and one unearned run, while striking out three batters. However, the Cardinal bats also awoke in game two, as they scored nine runs on 14 hits, with the majority of their damage coming in an eight-run, nine-hit bottom of the fifth inning. 

After a great outing in game one as a pitcher, Maggiacomo followed up with a 3-3 performance at the plate, driving in and scoring a run while also tripling. Palmer was once again a spark-plug at the top of the order, going 2-4 with a run scored, while Langdon was also 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Golino added to her strong pitching performance with a 2-3 performance at the dish, driving in three runs, picking up a double, and scoring once. Kylie Persampire (Bellmore, N.Y./Wellington C. Mepham), Danielle Torres (Albany, N.Y./Colonie Central), and Manalo all had run-scoring hits in their big fifth inning as well for the Cardinal offense. 

Plattsburgh was the first team to score in game two of the conference twin bill, with Golino singling home Palmer after the sophomore singled earlier in the frame. The Lakers, however, were able to tie the game soon in the following half-inning, as an error allowed a runner to advance to second on a single, with a single on the following play scoring the unearned run. 

With the game tied at one heading into the bottom of the fifth, the Cards needed to go up by eight runs to enact the run rule. The Cards were able to do so, putting up nine hits to score the eight runs needed to end the game. Back-to-back singles from Palmer and Langdon opened the frame, and Golino doubled them both home to give Plattsburgh the lead back after two half-innings of a tied game. After a new pitcher was inserted, Maggiacomo greeted the new Laker arm with a triple to deep left and Persampire followed with a single to score Maggiacomo. After a groundout, Torres, Dolly Garguilo (Monroe, N.Y./Washingtonville), and Manalo all singled in a row, helping to move the score to 7-1. An error followed allowing a run to score and on the next play, Langdon reached on an infield hit to score Manalo, enacting the run rule and giving the Cards the 9-1 win.