The Plattsburgh State baseball team recovered nicely after being swept by the Oswego State Lakers earlier in the week by defeating St. Lawrence University 8-4 on the road Wednesday afternoon.
Holding an overall record of 5-12 (0-6 in conference), the Cardinals feel as if their record doesn’t accurately depict the level of talent on their team.
So far, the Cards have played some extremely high level baseball programs. This will continue as PSUC will be hosting SUNY Cortland in what will finally be their home opener. After the first two attempts of opening Chip Cummings Field were postponed due to weather and bad field conditions, the Cards are finally able to host a game on their home field.
“The game against St. Lawrence was definitely a good momentum builder for us going into the weekend,” head coach Kris Doorey said. “We’re playing two of the top-15 teams in the nation (Oswego and Cortland), so it gives us a good idea of where we’re at. It’s also a good test to see where we need to get to in order to be able to compete with these teams on a year-to-year basis.”
With Cortland coming to town for PSUC’s home opener, it will be no easy test for the Cards, however, after Wednesday’s win earlier in the week, it showed them that they are able to compete with any team.
At 22-5 overall (7-2 in conference), Cortland continues to be a dominant force in the always competitive SUNYAC conference, which is one of the toughest Division III conferences in the country.
“Obviously, sometimes you would like an easier opponent to get your feet wet, but anytime we get to play on our home field we have an advantage,” Doorey said. “We’re a really good baseball team, we’ve just played a really tough schedule up to this point.”
Already in a better position compared to where they were last year at this point in the season, the team can feel confident about how this season is preparing them for what else is to come for young team.
“We just have to keep doing what we’ve been doing,” sophomore outfielder Chris Robertson said. “If we can bring what did brought against St. Lawrence into this weekend, then hopefully we can get some more wins.”
In Wednesday’s 8-4 victory, PSUC’s relief pitching did not allow a single earned-run after sophomore RHP Frank Finkbeiner started the game for the Cards and pitched 2.2 innings and only allowing one earned-run. The bullpen has been holding it down recently, and have done a good job at preserving games and keeping the team in a ball-game if they happen to be losing at the time.
“Our bats have come alive and we have been pitching well out of the bullpen, which was shaky in the beginning of the year,” Finkbeiner said. “We can only keep getting better from here.”
In a holiday series at home, PSUC hopes to have a strong showing from its supporters. In return, the Cards are looking to come away with a strong showing themselves, against the tough Red Dragons.
The first game of the doubleheader Friday starts at 12 noon, then will continue at 3 p.m. The Cards will wrap up its 3-game series Saturday at 12 noon against the Red Dragons.
“I expect our team to come out and compete, just like we do every game,” Finkbeiner said. “It was a good win Wednesday, we just have to keep it going against Cortland.”
Email Ezra Kachaturian at sports@cardinalpointsonline.com
