Devils' bid for sweep falls one run short
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Baseball
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Fredonia State and Plattsburgh split their SUNYAC doubleheader Sunday.
The Blue Devils won the opener, 8-7, with early scoring. They did their scoring in the late innings of the second game, only to come up short, 6-5.
Matt LaPorte (Westfield) went 6 for 6 with three hits in each game.
Josh Melquist (Jamestown) had five RBI on the day, two in the opener. Rob Herrmann (Trumansburg) and Don Kirsch (Cowlesville/Attica) also had two RBI. One of Kirsh’s three hits was a two-run single with two outs in the third. It gave the Blue Devils a 7-1 lead.
The Devils held an 8-2 lead at one point, only to have the Cardinals battle back in the final two innings.
Junior right-hander Matt Sullivan (Buffalo/Timon-St. Jude) was Fredonia State’s most effective pitcher. He allowed one run on three hits and three strikeouts over three innings.
In the second game, the Blue Devils trailed 2-0 before rallying with single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. With two outs in the sixth, Herrmann doubled and Melquist tripled to tie the game at 2-2.
Plattsburgh regained the lead with two runs in the seventh inning, made possible on a dropped flyball. Fredonia State got one of the runs back on a single by LaPorte, a stolen base by pinch runner Tommy Dee (Buffalo/Timon-St. Jude), a single by Vinnie VanAuker (Hilton), and an errant pickoff throw by the Plattsburgh pitcher.
Plattsburgh scored two insurance runs in the last of the seventh, and they proved valuable additions. Down 6-3 in the top of the ninth, the Blue Devils mounted a rally but came up just short. A two-run double by Melquist and a bunt single by Taylor Gahagen (Amherst/Williamsville North) put runners on the corners with no outs.
A shallow fly to center failed to advance either runner. Pinch-hitter Brian Sheehan (West Seneca/Orchard Park) then grounded into a game-ending double play as Plattsburgh earned the split and improved to 22-6, including 3-3 in the SUNYAC.
Fredonia State is 14-9 overall and 2-9 in the SUNYAC.
Freshman left-hander Caleb Brown (Sherburne/Sherburne-Earlville) pitched effectively for the Blue Devils – two runs, none earned, and three hits over five innings. He had two strikeouts.
The Blue Devils are scheduled to play a doubleheader Tuesday at Pitt-Bradford.