Senior Katie O'Gorman (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) blasted three home runs today including a grand slam, unfortunately the SUNY Oneonta softball team dropped a pair to Plattsburgh in the SUNYAC openers for both squads.  The two teams combined to score 42 runs while pounding out 57 hits on the afternoon.  Oneonta (10-4, 0-2 SUNYAC) hit six home runs while Plattsburgh (10-8, 2-0 SUNYAC) connected on two round-trippers.
 
The three long balls hit today for O'Gorman made her the all-time career leader with 13 breaking the old mark of 11 set back in 2003 by Tara Hinkle.  She also drove in a total of seven runs in the doubleheader.
 
Game 1 – Plattsburgh 9, Oneonta 7
The Red Dragons jumped out to a 5-0 lead after two innings in the opener.  Senior Marlene Cuevas (Wappingers Falls/Roy C. Ketcham) belted a two-out, two-run home run to account for the runs in the first inning.  Oneonta added three unearned runs in the second inning aided by a pair of errors by the Cardinals.  O'Gorman had an RBI single and sophomore catcher Selena Ruiz (Westbury/W.T. Clarke) shot a triple to right center to drive in another run.
 
The Cardinals closed the gap to 5-3 with two runs in the third and another run in the fourth.  The two runs in the third came in on an RBI single to right field by Jackie Decker that scored Kaitlyn Preiss and Amy Glashoff.  In the fourth, a two-out double by Preiss drove in Amanda Tantillo from third after she had led off the inning with a double.
 
A leadoff home run in the bottom of the fourth inning by O'Gorman gave Oneonta a 6-3 lead.
 
Plattsburgh struck back in the top of the fifth inning with three runs to tie the score at six apiece.  The Cardinals loaded the bases before Anna Fisher hit a one-out single to right field to knock in two runs.  An infield single by Glashoff drove in Tantillo from third for the final run.
 
The Cardinals went ahead 7-6 in the top of the sixth before Oneonta tied the game in their half of the inning on O'Gorman's second home run of the game.
 
Plattsburgh plated a pair in the seventh to go ahead 9-7.  Preiss hit a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in the first run before Glashoff scored an unearned run.  Taylor Smith came into the game to relieve starter Katie Pitkin with one out and one runner on.  She retired the next two batters to pick up her first save of the season.
 
Freshman Alyssa Bluethgen (Commack/Commack ) suffered the loss in relief for Oneonta.  She relieved starter Sabrina DeAngelis (East Meadow/Kellenberg Memorial) in the fifth inning and pitched 2 1/3 innings allowing five hits and three runs, one earned while walking a pair of batters.
 
Decker finished the game with four hits while Preiss collected three hits in leading the Plattsburgh offense.
 
Game 2 – Plattsburgh 14, Oneonta 12
The nightcap turned into another slugfest with the Cardinals prevailing once again.  Decker recorded another four-hit game while driving in four runs.  Jennifer Groat also had four hits in the game and Hope VanBrocklin collected three hits and scored three runs.  Groat and VanBrocklin both went deep for the Cardinals.
 
Plattsburgh scored four runs in the top of the second to grab an early lead, which didn't last long as O'Gorman smacked a grand slam in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at 4-4.
 
After a single run for the Cardinals in the third, Oneonta came right back in their half with three runs to take a 7-5 lead.  The big blow in the inning was a two-out, two-run home run by sophomore Cori McFall (Pleasant Valley/Arlington).
 
The Cardinals got one back in the top of the fourth before pushing across six runs in the fifth inning aided by a pair of errors, a couple of walks and a wild pitch.
 
Trailing 13-7 entering the home half of the sixth inning, Oneonta cut its deficit to just two runs scoring four in the inning.  The big hit in the inning was a double to center field by sophomore Dana Del Genio (New Hartford/New Hartford) that drove in two runs.
 
Plattsburgh scored a run in the top of the seventh to increase its lead to 14-11.  In the bottom of the inning, the Red Dragons tried to rally, but could only push one run across.  Smith, who had entered the game in the bottom of the sixth, managed to get through the inning to record her second save of the day.
 
Ruiz led Oneonta with three hits while O'Gorman, Lauren Sabatino (Bayville/Locust Valley), Jennifer Brocco (Kingston/Kingston) and Brooke Corbett (Bethlehem/Bethlehem Central/Delmar) all had two hits.
 
Senior Amanda Graziano (Riverhead/Riverhead) fell to 3-2 on the season for Oneonta while Rhea Pitkin picked up her second win of the season for the Cardinals.
 
Oneonta will be back in action again tomorrow against Potsdam.  The doubleheader will be played at Onondaga Community College beginning at 11am.