By Melanie Lanzo
St. Lawrence University and the Plattsburgh Cardinals have a long history with previous back-to-back losses the Cardinals have experienced back in 2021. For this game, the Cardinals bounced back and used a complete team effort to beat the Saints in a 5-3 victory at Tom Fay Field.
It was a rocky start but with nine innings in total, sophomore pitcher Jack Scardino took the victory home after the pace picked up in the sixth inning.
“At first, both our team and theirs started off hitting slow,” said Andew Viet. “It was a back and forth game that eventually we strung together some timely hitting and took the lead and never looked back, something that we’re used to doing many times.”
For one and a half innings it was a complete baseball shutout until the Saints broke through in the bottom of the second to make it 1-0. The game cruised along at 1-0 until the top of the fifth, and that’s when the Cardinals took the lead.
Plattsburgh ended the fifth inning with 2-1. The Cardinals shortstop Conner Gonzalski is to thank for this advance, as he grounded out and an intense run batted in let sophomore Alex Kornblau advance to second, continuing the play Michael Ascanio advanced to third and Andrew Veit scored.
“When playing with the same team for a while, you really stress the resiliency that must be present throughout the entire team and dugout. When we went down 1-0 in the second inning, we knew we’d have to score anyway so there was no reason to get nervous or down. We played confident and got the win,” Veit said.
The beginning of the sixth inning was when things got more intense as the game was tied until the bottom half of the inning. Aaron Roman doubled to left field and by the end of the inning, Steve Messer scored, making the score 3-2 with the Cardinals in the lead. The Cardinals continued to carry the game with doubles of runs batted in while the other run was brought across by a wild pitch.
There were no new scores in the seventh and eighth inning, as the cardinals were still in the lead but both teams kept their scores as 5-2. The Cardinals had one hit, two errors, and one left on base by the top of the eighth inning. St. Lawrence got one run back towards the bottom of the eighth as Brian Comerford (Saints) came to second to pinch run for Drew Courtwright (Saints) and he then did a double off the left-field. Comerford (saints) stole third, Burke struck out swinging.
The score now finished 5-3, and Even though St Lawrence got a run back in the eighth inning, Chris Santic closed out the game in the ninth inning, finalizing the win for the Cardinals.
“Overall, I’ve been working on my mental strength over the season,” Veit said. Of course I’ve been working on my hitting, fielding, strength, etc. but baseball is such a mental game that it can be hard at times to play your best when you’re not fully confident or there mentally.”
The Cardinals now have an overall victory of 20-15, having a high final record.
