MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State softball team swept Morrisville in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action on Friday afternoon, securing a berth in the SUNYAC Tournament. The Cardinals were carried by a complete game shutout in game one from Carly Gemmett (Colonie, N.Y./Colonie Central), and then overcame a deficit late in game two with four runs in the seventh to earn the sweep.

Gemmett went seven strong innings in game one of the day, finishing with a line of seven innings pitched, allowing just two hits, three walks, and striking out 10 batters. She also came back to pitch the seventh inning in game two and earned her first career save with a scoreless inning, striking out two.

Plattsburgh State improves to 10-23 (7-9 SUNYAC) and takes on Cortland tomorrow, May 3, in a doubleheader to wrap up the regular season at noon. Morrisville falls to 9-19 (3-13 SUNYAC) and next hosts Potsdam on Saturday, May 3, at noon.

Game One: Plattsburgh 1, Morrisville 0

Gemmett willed the Cards to a game one win, outdueling Morrisville's Piper Kaylor and Kendall Darling, who held the Cardinals to one run on three hits.

Gwen Noll (Massapequa, N.Y./St. Anthony's) was the catalyst for the Cardinal offense in game one, finishing the day 1-2 with two walks, a run scored, and two stolen bases. After the game two win, she now has 25 stolen bases on the season, approaching the program record of 33 by Brittany Marshall. Sara Isaacs (Malta, N.Y./Shenendehowa) was 1-2 with the lone RBI, also walking once, and Sarah Milyko (Goshen, N.Y./Chester Academy) had the other hit for the Cardinals, finishing 1-2 with a walk.

For Morrisville, Kaylie Kendrick and Isabella Gaskins had the only two hits, while Kaylor took the loss, giving up one run over 4.1 innings. Darling threw 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit.

In the first inning, the Cardinals got he only run they would need, as Noll walked and stole second base to start the game. She moved over to third on a groundout in the next at-bat and then came around to score on an Isaacs sacrifice fly in the next plate appearance, giving Plattsburgh the 1-0.

That was all the run support Gemmett needed as she did not allow a Morrisville runner to get past second base all day. It took until the fourth inning for the Mustangs to get a hit off the Cardinals' ace, but with two outs in the inning, she induced a pop-up from the next batter to end the threat. She ran into trouble in the fifth with back-to-back two-out walks but struck out Sara Brefka to end the inning and keep Plattsburgh ahead.

After a 1-2-3 sixth from Gemmett, the Cardinals threatened in the seventh as Noll had an infield single and stole another base, but she was stranded in scoring position as the Cards would have to rely on their starter to make the one-run stand.

Gemmett did just that, inducing a foul out to start the inning and working around a subsequent single by striking out the next batter and ending the game with a fielder's choice to give the Cards the win.

Game Two: Plattsburgh 8, Morrisville 5

Despite some shoddy defense in game two, the Cardinals used a four-run seventh inning to earn the win. After Megan Pillus (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Spackenkill) tied the game with a sacrifice fly, Michelle DeFina (Commack, N.Y./Commack) drove in two runs to give Plattsburgh the lead.

Bella Toleman (Stillwater, N.Y./Stillwater) led the offensive effort for the Cards in game two, going 3-4 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored. Isaacs was 2-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Noll was 2-5 with two runs scored and three stolen bases. Mikayla Pappas (Stormville, N.Y./Carmel) also had two hits and a RBI on the day for Plattsburgh State.

In the circle, Morgan Ormerod (Valatie, N.Y./Ichabod Crane) made the start and took a no-decision, going 3.1 innings and allowing just one earned run. Cadey Wheat (Edwards, N.Y./Edwards-Knox) earned her first win with the Cards, going 2.2 innings in relief, allowing one unearned run, and then Gemmett earned the save with a 1-2-3 seventh.

For the Mustangs, Gaskins, Lindsey Fish, and Celeste Baldwin each had a hit and an RBI in the loss. Darling went six innings, allowing five earned runs, while Kaylor took the loss, allowing two runs.

Plattsburgh State took an early lead in game two, as an error on a stolen base attempt allowed Noll to score and give the Cards a 1-0 lead. The score remained 1-0 until the third inning when the Cardinals added three runs. Isaacs brought in Noll with a single to left, and Toleman brought home a Cardinal run with a single to left as well. Deo followed with a boule to left center to score Pillus and put Plattsburgh up 4-0.

The Cardinal offense went cold over the next couple of innings, allowing the Mustangs to work back into the game, which they started in the third inning as Gaskins and Fish both had RBI singles. In the fourth, a costly Plattsburgh error allowed two runs to score, tying the game at four. In the following half-inning, another error allowed Fish to reach, and she came around to score on a Baldwin single, giving Morrisville the lead.

Plattsburgh State wasn't ready to go down in the seventh, however, and immediately started up a rally. Meghan Stork (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) singled to lead off the inning, and Isaacs followed with a single, moving Stork to third. Pillus then tied the game for Plattsburgh, lifting a ball deep to center field, scoring Stork easily. Toleman then followed with her third hit of the day, and Deo walked, loading the bases for the Cardinals. In the biggest at-bat of her young career, DeFina smoked a ball past the drawn infield, scoring two runs and giving the Plattsburgh State Cardinals the 7-5 lead. Pappas then brought in a run with an RBI groundout, pushing the Plattsburgh lead to 8-5.

Gemmett entered for the seventh inning and made quick work of the Mustangs, getting Fish to foul out and then striking out the final two batters to give the Cardinals the 8-5 win.