FREDONIA, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State baseball team opened a three-game SUNYAC road series on Saturday against Fredonia, looking to secure its first conference win of the season. 

Fredonia struck first in the bottom of the opening inning, using a sacrifice fly off the bat of Domenic Hickock to take a 1-0 lead. Plattsburgh responded in a big way in the second inning. With two runners on, Jackson Pam (Dix Hills, N.Y. Half/Hallow Hills East) delivered a clutch double to right field, driving in Austin Caldwell (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) and Michael Piccirillo (Glen Cove, N.Y./Glen Cove) to give the Cardinals a 2-1 advantage. Later in the inning, Tyler Martin (New Windsor, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) added to the momentum with an RBI single up the middle, scoring Pam and extending the lead to 3-1.

The Blue Devils answered in the third inning, capitalizing on defensive miscues by the Cardinals. Fredonia plated three runs in the frame, two unearned to take a 4-3 lead. After several scoreless innings, Fredonia broke the game open in the seventh. The Blue Devils scored three runs in the inning, again taking advantage of errors, with all three runs in the frame coming unearned to push their lead to 7-3.

Plattsburgh showed late fight in the final innings. In the eighth, Ryan Hart (Portland, Ore./Jesuit) launched a solo home run to right-center field to cut into the deficit. The Cardinals continued to chip away in the ninth, as Jackson Pam brought home Jonathan Beale (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's Boys) with a sacrifice groundout, but the rally fell short as Fredonia held on for the win.

With the loss, the Cardinals fall to 9-6 overall and 0-4 in conference play. Plattsburgh will be back in action tomorrow as they wrap up their series against Fredonia with a doubleheader, with first pitch scheduled for noon.