PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. - Senior infielder Kelsy Waite (Winthrop, N.Y./St. Lawrence Central) delivered with walk-off winners twice on Saturday afternoon, as the Plattsburgh State softball team took both games from SUNY Cortland in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action. Waite walked the first game off with a single to right-center and then hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in game two to lead the Cards to a conference doubleheader sweep of Cortland, the program's first over the Red Dragons since 2006. 

Waite finished the day 2-5 with 2 RBI and a run scored as Claire Palmer (Suffern, N.Y./Suffern) stayed red hot with a 4-8 performance in two games, as she had two triples and three RBI. Kristen Langdon (Burnt Hills, N.Y./Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) was 3-7 in two games, adding her first homer of the season, while Julia Golino (Mount Sinai, N.Y./Mount Sinai) and Kristina Maggiacomo (South Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) each earned complete-game wins in the circle.

The Cardinals improve to 11-3 (4-0 SUNYAC) and now sit atop the SUNYAC conference tied with Oneonta after the league's first weekend of play. They will next matchup with St. Lawrence in a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday, April 12 at 3 p.m. The Red Dragons fall to 11-7 (2-2 SUNYAC) and travel to RPI on Tuesday, April 11 for their next two games. 

Game One: Plattsburgh 6, Cortland 5

Palmer continued her hot streak at the plate in game one with a 3-4 performance that included three RBI, a triple, and a run scored. She was backed up by a huge Langdon homer in the first inning, as Maggiacomo earned the complete game win, going seven innings, giving up three earned runs, and striking out six batters. 

The Cards put up two runs right away in game one, as Langdon took the first pitch she saw deep over the right field fence to score Palmer and spot Maggiacomo and the Cards an early two-run lead. Cortland responded in the following half-inning, however, scoring two runs with a Halle Wright triple to right center. 

Plattsburgh retook the lead in the bottom of the second as two hit-by-pitches and an infield hit loaded the bases for Palmer, who singled to right to score two runs. Leading 4-2, the score would hold through three and a half innings, until Plattsburgh picked up an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth, with Palmer tripling home Mikayla Manalo (Holtsville, N.Y/Sachem East) to go up 5-2. In the top of the seventh, a solo homer, and a two-run double tied the game for the Red Dragons, but Maggiacomo was able to strike out a pinch-hitter to leave the go-ahead run on second base. 

The dramatic walk-off was set up a hustle double for Maggiacomo, putting herself in scoring position with one out. After a ground out moved her to third, Waite stepped to the plate and lined a ball that went just over the glove of the Cortland second baseman, scoring Maggiacomo and giving Plattsburgh a dramatic game-one win. 

Maggiacomo earned her fifth win of the season in the circle to move to 5-2, while Kim Westenberg took her second loss for the Red Dragons to drop to 4-2. 

Game Two: Plattsburgh 6, Cortland 5

In game two, Plattsburgh once again held a lead for the majority of the game but needed a seventh-inning comeback to complete the doubleheader sweep. Langdon, Golino, and Maggiacomo each had multi-hit games, as all three scored a run and Maggiacomo registered an RBI. Kylie Persampire (Bellmore, N.Y./Wellington C. Mepham) and Manalo each had two-run singles in the game two win, with both players also drawing walks. 

Plattsburgh once again got on the board early in the game's action, as Waite singled and Persampire walked to begin the frame. After an infield fly and sac bunt, Manalo lined a single to left, scoring two runs and giving the Cards a 2-0 lead. Once again, however, Cortland had a quick response, as an RBI triple and sac fly tied the game for the Red Dragons. The Cardinals were also able to respond quickly, as Golino and Maggiacomo began the next half-inning with back-to-back singles. After a sacrifice bunt, Persampire singled to right center, bringing both players home to give Plattsburgh a 4-2 lead. 

The lead held for the Cards until the top of the sixth, when a pair of errors allowed three runs to score for the Red Dragons, handing Cortland a 5-4 lead. They were able to hold Plattsburgh scoreless in the bottom of the frame and Golino did the same in the top of the seventh, firing a 1-2-3 frame to send the Cards up and down just one run in the bottom of the seventh.

Facing Cortland reliever Kim Westenberg again in the bottom of the seventh, Langdon led off with a single and was followed by a Golino single to left, putting the game-winning run on base and the game-tying run on second. After Gwen Noll (Massapequa, N.Y./St. Anthony's) the next batter, Maggiacomo, laced a single to right, scoring Langdon to tie the game and moving the tying run to third base. Waite was then once again the batter with the game-winning run on third base, as she promptly lined a ball to right field that was caught by the Cortland defender. Noll tagged from third base and was just ahead of the throw and subsequent tag, sliding in safely to clinch the win and doubleheader sweep for Plattsburgh State. 

Golino earned her fifth win of the season, moving to 5-0 on the year, as she tossed seven innings giving up just two earned runs while striking out two. Westenberg took the loss to fall to 4-3 on the year, as she pitched 2.1 innings of relief and allowed two runs.