OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State baseball team dropped two one-run games on Friday afternoon, falling 3-2 and 4-3 to the Oswego State Lakers. Both games saw the Cardinals either tie the game late or have a lead in the late innings, but Oswego was able to retake the lead in each game to earn the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) sweep.
The Cardinals had some excellent starting pitching throughout the day as
Kaelen Clarkson (Barrie, Ontario/St. Joseph's Catholic) threw eight fantastic innings in game one, allowing just two earned runs, while
Isaiah Maines (Hudson, N.Y./Hudson) allowed just one earned run in six innings of work.
Colin Ross (Mastic Beach, N.Y./William Floyd) had three hits and two RBI across the doubleheader, including his fourth homer of the week.
Plattsburgh State falls to 8-17 (1-10 SUNYAC) on the season and next takes on SUNY Canton on Tuesday, April 22, on the road as they will look for their first SUNYAC series win of 2025. Oswego State improves to 18-11 (8-4 SUNYAC) and plays RIT on Tuesday, April 22 in their next matchup.
Game One: Oswego 3, Plattsburgh 2
A pitcher's duel took place in game one of the doubleheader and game two of the SUNYAC series as Clarkson and Oswego starter Jacob Sanders each threw at least eight innings. Clarkson struck out six over his eight innings of work, holding Oswego to two runs while scattering six hits and three walks. Sanders went all nine innings for his Lakers, giving up just four hits, two earned runs, and one walk, while striking out nine.
Offensively for Plattsburgh,
Josh Foglia (Latham, N.Y./Shaker) was 2-4 with a run scored, while Ross was 1-3 with an RBI and a walk.
Alex Kornblau (Pound Ridge, N.Y./Fox Lane) drove in a run for the Cards, and
Kyle Cremin (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) was 1-2 with a double.
For Oswego, Thomas Harrington and Tishawn Featherstone each had two hits, while Featherstone scored a run, had a double, and an RBI.
The Lakers struck first, scoring in the bottom of the first inning, as Featherstone singled home Trey McGowan. Clarkson settled in, however, working around two baserunners with no outs, to escape with just one run allowed in the first inning.
From there, Clarkson and Sanders cruised along, as neither saw themselves in much trouble until the sixth inning. In the top half, Ross tied the game with a two-out RBI single to right after two straight batters reached. In the bottom half, the Lakers responded as a Daniel Winchester double set up a Dylan Rosenberg sacrifice fly to give Oswego the lead right back.
Both threw up scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth, but in the ninth, the Cardinals got a rally started as Ross was walked to lead off the inning, and pinch runner
Ben Catrambone (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) stole second. Cremin sacrificed the runner over to third and Kornblau then flew out to left to score Catrambone and tie the game at 2-2.
In the bottom of the ninth, however, the Lakers had an answer as
Nick Goldberg (Commack, N.Y./Commack) tried to send the game into extra innings. Goldberg retired the first batter, but an Emil Sander single to right and a subsequent stolen base put the winning run in scoring position. After a walk, Goldberg struck out the next batter looking, but McGowan followed with a two-out walkoff single to win the game for Oswego State.
Game Two: Oswego 4, Plattsburgh 3
In game two, another pitcher's duel occurred, this time between Maines and Joel Hayner, as each right-hander quieted the bats of the opposing squad for large stretches of the game. Maines finished with his best outing in a Cardinal uniform, going six strong innings, allowing just one earned run and striking out eight, while walking just one and scattering eight hits. Hayner went eight strong for the Lakers, allowing three earned runs and walking none while striking out nine.
For Plattsburgh offensively, Ross was 2-4 with a solo homer, and Kornblau was 2-4 with an RBI triple and a run scored. Cremin drove in a run for the Cards while
Joey Di Rocco (Congers, N.Y./Clarkstown South) reached base twice and scored a run.
Rosenberg was 3-4 with a run scored and a stolen base for the Lakers, while Winchester was 2-4 with an RBI, a double, and a run scored. McGowan also doubled and finished 2-4, while Harrington had an RBI. Owen Hoyt pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn the save for Oswego State.
Each pitcher threw scoreless frames in the first three innings, and after the Cards were scoreless in the top of the fourth, Oswego broke the scoring in the bottom of the fourth thanks to an error and passed ball, allowing Winchester to single in a run.
The lead was short-lived as Di Rocco led off the sixth, getting hit by a pitch and was moved over to second on a Foglia groundout. Kornblau followed with a triple to deep right field to tie the game, and then Cremin singled him home to give Plattsburgh their first lead of the series.
In the seventh, Maines gave up a leadoff walk and single to put runners on the corners with no outs, and Plattsburgh went back to Goldberg out of the bullpen. After forcing McGowan to pop up, Harrington laid down a squeeze bunt and scored a run to tie the game, before Goldberg limited the damage by striking out Featherstone to end the inning.
With the game tied at two in the eighth, Plattsburgh retook the lead on a no-doubt blast to right center field off the bat of Ross. The two-out homer was Ross' fourth of the week and moves up to sixth on the season, tying him for second all-time in a single season, two off the record of eight homers that Kornblau set last year.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Lakers' offense went right back to work as Winchester led off with a double and Rosenberg singled to put runners on the corners. After a ground out moved Rosenberg to second, a wild pitch scored Winchester, tying the game, and then Anthony Barone had an RBI groundout to give Oswego the lead.
The Cardinals went down in order in the ninth, as Hoyt needed just nine pitches to earn the save and give Oswego State the sweep.
