BB: SUNYAC

[jdex]

Keystone, Pa. over Cortland 9-6. K Giants 11-5, RDragons 15-6

[jack31]

Plattsburgh sweeps SUNY Old Westbury 5-4 and 3-1.  Plattsburgh came from behind and scored 2 in the last inning to take the lead in game 1.  O'leary started and pitched well but Tracy picked up the W in relief. 

Tracy started game 2 and gave up 1 run on his way to a 2-0 record on the day.  The Old Westbury pitcher threw well also.  Plattsburgh scored three in the first on some miscues by Old Westbury, but was shut out the rest of the game. 

[jack31]

Plattsburgh improved their record to 17-1 and extended their winning streak to 17 games.  hopefully they can keep the streak going.

[ballsy]

cortland losing the games they are supposed to..... 2 or 3 guys hitting..... pitch around them and your in it....

[StarvinMarvin]

For all you Cortland homers, the left side of your infield plays extremely poor defense and until that situation improves, which it won't, this team is going NOWHERE.  The head coach is an infield guru...one would think that infield defense would be their strength but every game the same guys make error after error...hmmm

[Kski]

Plattsburgh taking 2 from Old Westbury was definitely a pleasant surprise.  I thought that they might lose a bit of their edge after a whole week off from playing games.  A 17 game winning streak is extremely impressive.  Staying focused for that many games is not an easy task, especially since the past 4 games have been very close.  Those guys are coming through in clutch situations.  That mental toughness, along with some key hits can prove to be the deciding factor in close games.  How the Cards play in SUNYAC games is yet to be determined, but I think we can expect some good old fashioned barn burners against good teams.  These guys haven't even played a game on their home turf yet.  That should be where they are strongest.  They don't have a lot of long-ball power (other than Pat Shaughnessy who is 155 lbs. soaking wet), and if anyone were to field a team at Chip Cummings field, power would be the last thing you would look for in recruits.  Pitching wise, Dan Tracy picked up both wins on the day.  This kid had a lot of potential last year as a freshman.  He looks to have improved himself this year.  He keeps people off the base paths, and runs from scoring.  Hopefully he can keep hitting his spots. 

The strength of Plattsburgh's opponents has been noted by some, but any team that can stay focused enough to beat average teams day-in and day-out leads me to believe that they are above average and deserving of their #26 ranking (possibly climbing).  Rankings really mean more to an opponent.  The higher you are on that list, the bigger the target is on your back.  For instance, everyone in the conference, and no doubt the region, wants to take out Cortland.  They are still good, and the the other teams in the conference respect and recognize them as a good ball club (maybe because of that target).  Soon, Plattsburgh might be part of that crowd.  It will be interesting to see how they respond their ranking since they have never been in this position before. 

Good luck to all the teams in the conference.  I can't wait to see the rest of them play. 

[budhar]

I agree. Platsburgh should have an easy weekend. New Paltz Saturday, Oneonta Sunday.
They can use there one and two on Sunday.

[onesix3]

An easy weekend?Judson from New Paltz is the real deal! Certainly nobody to be taken lightly.And Oneonta,if their healthy you could be in for a long weekend,if not healthy they could still be tough.Two Sunyac doubleheaders on one weekend will not be easy. But I'm looking foward to the results,it should give an indication of where teams stand!I hope the weather is as nice as last weekend!

[Kski]

I definitely agree.  New Paltz shouldn't be taken lightly.  They have split with Plattsburgh the past 4 years.  Plattsburgh will have to break that cycle.  Oneonta will  be a tough match too.  Healthy, they pose a big threat.  If they aren't, I guarantee they still won't be taken lightly. 

Hopefully the weather holds up this week so all the teams can get some work done in non-conference games.

[John McGraw]

Lest we forget, New Paltz beat Salisbury earlier this year.

[magicman]

Cortland St. over Mount St. Mary today 8-4. Red Dragons 8 runs, 13 hits, 3 errors.
Travis Ratliff gets the win to improve to 3-0. 4 innings pitched, 2 hits no walks 6 k's.
Jason Simone with a 2 run shot for Cortland. Red Dragons improve to 16-6.

Mount St. Mary 4 runs, 7 hits, 3 errors.

[magicman]

Plattsburgh State extends their winning streak to 18 games as they travel to St. Lawrence and defeat the Saints 11-4 Tuesday afternoon. The Cardinals scored 4 times in the 4th inning to grab a 4-2 lead and scored 4 more in the fifth to break the game open. Freshman Mark Plante improved his record to 2-0 as he went 5 innings to get the win. Plante gave up 2 runs on 4 hits and had 3 strikeouts. Tyler Greene threw the final 4 innings to pick up the save.

The write up on this game is on the front page of D3Baseball.

Plattsburgh has moved into the D3baseball.com Top 25 poll for the 1st time in the program's history as they moved up from the others receiving votes category into the #23 spot just 15 points behind #21 Cortland St.

The Cardinals also moved up 8 places in the ABCA Top 30 poll as they now check in at #18, the highest ranking in team history.

Plattsburgh continues a busy week as they travel to Potsdam on Wednesday to take on Clarkson College in a doubleheader. Saturday will be the 1st time all season the Cardinals have been at home as they open SUNYAC play with a doubleheader against New Paltz. Plattsburgh winds up the weekend as they travel to Oneonta on Sunday for another doubleheader against the Red Dragons. Next week has another 7 games on tap. 3 more wins and the baseball Cards will beat the 20 game win streak that the basketball Cards had 2 years ago when they posted the best record a Cardinal hoops team ever had when they finished 27-3.       

[baseballislife]

Magicman,

As a 1987 graduate of Plattsburgh, I am pleased to see them have success on the diamond.  Especially since they didn't HAVE a team when I was there from '83 - '87! LOL

So you know, they have a few more to win to match the '86 -'87 hockey team's 27 game win streak.  And if you play the University of Rochester at any point, I will most decidedly be rooting against you as my son will begin playing there beginning next year!

Good luck.....for now. haha

[jdex]

Cortland 11, Utica 2

[Kski]

Baseballislife,

Glad to see I am joined by another alum of Plattsburgh.  There are a few others on this board that graduated from there too.  As Plattsburgh's program grows older, there are more and more people supporting the program up there.  This support helps them build a team like the one they have this year.  A lot of alum are very involved with the team still.  Whether it be keeping up with the games as posted online, or pursuing an assistant coaching job with them to help the next generation, a lot of our alum are in constant contact with current players and coaches just to see how they are progressing.  I don't know if anyone has done anything as impressive as Coach Doorey has in the past 7 years.  Winning coach of the year multiple times and taking a team (still in it's infancy) to the conference tourney every year since their reinstatement.  They are taking a step forward every year.  That next step gets tougher every year too.  It seems as though they may be on the right track to taking another step this year, but it is too early to tell. 

Winning their 18th game in a row is nice.  I just hope they don't get too used to coming out on top.  Their true test will come when they are faced with adversity.  A loss or key injury could force them to show their true character.  How will they respond when/if they experience a blowout loss?  I can tell that these kids are prepared for every game because they can grind out the close ones.  Honestly that's something you just can't teach. 

On another note, I don't think the Cards will be facing off against UofR any time soon.  Those 7 hour non conference trips are Pretty rare.