NEW PALTZ — The Plattsburgh State softball team concluded its 2023 season on Thursday with two losses to the second-seeded Cortland Red Dragons and then to the sixth-seeded Oneonta Red Dragons on the first day of the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) tournament. The Cardinals fell 4-2 in their first game against Cortland, before losing 3-2 to Oneonta in extra innings of an elimination game.
On the day, Plattsburgh received excellent pitching from starters Kristina Maggiacomo and then Julia Golino, as the pair each threw complete games and turned in quality starts. Golino also added five total hits on the day, accounting for nearly half of the Cardinal hits on the day.
Plattsburgh finishes 22-12 in 2023, the team’s best record since a 25-19 season in 2017. Cortland moves to 24-11 and will next play Geneseo on Friday, May 12, at noon. Oneonta moves to 18-21-1 and will await the loser of the Geneseo and Cortland game.
The Cardinals also will graduate six seniors in 2023: Rebecca Diller, Golino, Kristen Langdon, Maggiacomo, Danielle Torres and Kelsy Waite. Based upon a blanket waiver granted by the NCAA, some student-athletes may have eligibility remaining they would not have had otherwise, and they may choose to utilize it.
Game One
#2 Cortland 4, #5 Plattsburgh State 2
In game one, the Cardinals played a tight game with the Red Dragons of Cortland, ultimately falling 4-2. Plattsburgh led 2-1 heading into the fifth, but Cortland scored three unanswered runs to move on in tournament play.
For Plattsburgh, the majority of their offense came from Golino, who had two of the three team’s hits and drove in both runs. Maggiacomo turned in a strong start in what may have been her final collegiate outing in the circle, tossing a complete game with six innings of work, allowing three earned runs, scattering six hits, and striking out five. Claire Palmer had the other Plattsburgh hit and scored a run.
Cortland jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, scoring a run in the bottom of the first on an RBI single from Shannon Scotto. The lead held until the top of the third, when Mikayla Manalo started a Cardinal rally with a HBP. Palmer then reached on an infield, and after a pop-out, Golino doubled down the left field line, plating both runners and giving the Cards the lead.
After the one run in the first, Maggiacomo settled in, retiring 11 straight batters from the first inning through the end of the fourth. In the fifth, however, a hit-by-pitch and an infield hit put two batters on for Gina Meyers, who tripled past a diving left fielder to put Cortland ahead.
The Red Dragons went on to add an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth, going up 4-2, as they shut Plattsburgh down in the sixth and seventh to move on in tournament play.
Meyers finished the day 2-3 with two RBI and a run, while Karlee Weeden earned the win with seven innings of work, allowing just three hits and striking out four.
Game 2
#6 Oneonta 3, #5 Plattsburgh State 2 (8 innings)
The Cardinals were eliminated in a thriller to conclude day one of the SUNYAC tournament, falling in extra innings to Oneonta. Despite recording 10 hits on the day, the Cards were only able to push two runs across, stranding 11 runners on base.
Four Plattsburgh hitters registered multi-hit games, with Langdon, Maggiacomo, and Diller each having two hits, with Langdon scoring twice and Maggiacomo driving in two runs. Golino was also 3-3 with a walk, tossing eight innings in the circle while giving up just two earned runs and striking out at four.
After a scoreless two and a half innings, Plattsburgh was the first team to push a run across, with a single run in the bottom of the third. Langdon singled with one out stole second, and then advanced to third on a single from Golino. Maggiacomo followed with a line shot to left that was caught, but was more than deep enough to score Langdon from third.
The score held until the top of the fifth, as Oneonta took a 2-1 lead after a pinch-hit, two-run double for their first lead of the game.
In the following half inning, Plattsburgh tied the game thanks to three straight two-out singles, capped by a Maggiacomosingle up the middle, once again scoring Langdon. Diller followed with a fourth straight single to load the bases, but a Torress ground ball up the middle was stopped by a diving Oneonta shortstop who flipped to second to end the frame, keeping the game tied.
The game remained tied to eventually force extras, as Plattsburgh left two runners on in the sixth and the bottom of the seventh, with a hard-hit lineout by Torres doubling off the game-winning run at third to send the game to extra innings.
In the top of the eighth, back-to-back doubles gave Oneonta the lead, with Megan Palmatier and Marissa Nagel both doubling to push a run across for the Red Dragons. In the bottom of the eighth, the Cards were able to put the tying run on base, but couldn’t come up with a hit, concluding the Plattsburgh State season.
Palmatier was 3-4 with two doubles and a run scored, while Angelina Scalere got the win with three innings of work, allowing just one hit, walking and striking out four.