ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON — The Plattsburgh State baseball team overcame Vassar College and some cold weather conditions for two non-league victories Sunday to open its 2026 season.
The Cardinals won the first game 12-5 and held on in the second 3-2.
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“Overall, we played pretty well,” Plattsburgh head coach Sam Quinn-Loeb said.
In the opener, starting and winning pitcher Jack Castillo went 4.1 innings and struck out 10. Liam Suozzo then got the Cardinals out of a fifth-inning jam and went the rest of the way for the save, striking out four.
“Castillo struck out 10 in tough weather conditions,” Quinn-Loeb said. “He has a good fastball and slider. and Suozzo is pretty dependable in relief.”
The Cardinals scored four in the bottom of the second to take a 4-0 lead before the Brewers tallied three in the fourth to make it 4-3. Plattsburgh then broke it open in the fifth, scoring six times with the help of some Vassar errors.
“We were able to get some clutch hits when it was 4-3,” Quinn-Loeb said. “We loaded the bases on a double, walk and hit by pitch. You have to take advantage, and we put the ball in play.”
Luciano Fiorello swung the big bat for the Cardinals, going 3-for-3 with three runs scored and three RBIs. Michael Piccirillo drove in three runs with Colin Ross and Marc Cancilliere. In addition to Fiorello, six Cardinals had a hit each.
Game 2 had missed opportunities for both teams as the Cardinals stranded 12 runners and the Brewers 13.
Plattsburgh managed four hits in the contest, one each by Tyler Martin, Piccirillo, Logan Provost and Bostyn Duquette.
Martin had the key hit for the Cardinals, a three-run double in the fifth inning that gave Plattsburgh a 3-2 lead.
“We obviously had traffic on the bases,” Quinn-Loeb said. “We were unable to get two-out hits. We hit some balls hard and had some tough luck.”
Isaiah Maines started on the mound for Plattsburgh, and John Esposito picked up the win after relieving in the fourth. Ryan Loughlin then got the final two outs of the game to get the save.
Loughlin took over with runners on first and second, with one out, in the bottom of the seventh. Loughlin got the second out on an infield grounder to first base with the runners moving up a base. He then struck out the next batter to preserve the victory.
“Esposito was good in the fall for us and Loughlin the same way,” Quinn-Loeb said. “Loughlin has a ton of movement.”
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Game 1
Plattsburgh 12, Vassar 5
VC 000 300 2 — 5 6 4
PSU 040 062 x — 12 8 1
Maryout, Sternberg (4), Berner (6) and Johnson. Castillo, Suozzo (5) and Warren. WP- Castillo. LP- Maryout. Sv- Suozzo. 2B- Stockman (VC), Warren (PSU). 3B- Johnson (VC), Fiorello (PSU).
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Game 2
Plattsburgh 3, Vassar 2
PSU 000 030 0 — 3 4 1
VC 000 200 0 — 2 7 0
Maines, Esposito (4), Loughlin (7) and Keefe. Lee, Roy-Burman (5), Mills (5) and Fox-Fernandez. WP- Esposito. LP- Roy-Burman. Sv- Loughlin. 2B- Martin (PSU), Townsend (VC).