Box Score

Nick Bunce (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena) sparked a fourth inning rally for The College at Brockport baseball team  but the Golden Eagles fell 9-8 at home to the Plattsburgh Cardinals on Sunday afternoon. With the loss, Brockport falls to 4-9 in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play.

Trailing 6-1, Bunce picked up his second RBI of the day with a solo home run to lead off the fourth inning. The Golden Eagles tacked on three more runs in the inning, including a two-run single with two outs from Kyle Tracy (Plainview, NY/Bethpage). Brockport took an 8-6 lead in the very next inning as the Golden Eagles scored three times. The offense stalled in the final four frames as the Golden Eagles managed just one hit while Plattsburgh scored a run in the sixth, seventh and ninth to steal the conference win.

Matthew Coleman (Ballston Spa, NY/Saratoga Springs) got the start for the Golden Eagles and allowed three earned runs in two innings of work. Tyler Clifford (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) pitched 1.2 innings of relief before handing the ball over to Rob Stankiewicz (New Windsor, NY/Newburgh Free Academy). The junior scattered four hits in 2.2 innings of work, allowing two earned runs. Ethan Selby (Broadalbin, NY/Broadalbin-Perth) was issued his first loss of the season after pitching 1.2 innings of relief, giving up one unearned run.

The Cardinals got to Coleman early, scoring two runs in the top of the first inning. Bunce put Brockport on the board with a single through the left side to score Jake Coleman (Hilton, NY/Hilton). Plattsburgh built a five-run lead with a score in the second and three runs in the fourth.

Bunce led off the fourth inning with a shot that cleared the left field wall to ignite the offense.Zach Lander (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) and Wesley Burghardt (Chittenango, NY/Chittenango) picked up singles and Mike Gianni (Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-Dewitt) walked to load the bases. Colin Grande (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) then fouled out down the left field line, but Lander was able to advance on score on the play.

After Jake Coleman reloaded the bases on a catcher's interference call to plate Tracy. The senior delivered a single through the right side to score Burghardt and Gianni, bringing Brockport within one.

Bunce led off the fifth inning with a walk and advanced to second on another single from Lander. After Dan Hurlimann (Rochester, NY/Hilton) reached on a fielder's choice play, Burghardt provided an RBI single to score Lander and tie the game at single. Hurlimann later scored on a groundout from Grande and Burghardt gave the Golden Eagles a two run lead after scoring on a wild pitch.

The Cardinals scored a run in each of the next two innings as the Brockport offense failed to produce a base runner. Jake Coleman picked up a single to right field in the eighth inning but was unable to come around and score.

Selby allowed a leadoff double in the ninth and was relieved for Justin McCarthy (Mohegan Lake, NY/Lakeland) After a sacrifice bunt, the Cardinals' runner came in to score the winning run on a passed ball as Plattsburgh improved to 4-8 in the SUNYAC.

Jake Coleman, Bunce, Lander, and Burghardt all had two hit days for the Golden Eagles. Bunce now leads the team with 31 hits, 27 RBI and three home runs on the year. Burghardt upped his average to a team-leading .369. Grande provided two critical outfield assists on the day, including one to Bunce at home plate in the third inning to prevent a run.

Brockport will look to stay in SUNYAC playoff contention with a pair of conference home games against Fredonia (13-5, 5-2) on Tuesday afternoon, set to begin at 12:00 pm. The two teams met earlier in the year with Fredonia taking a 4-3 victory.