St. Mary's City, MD: The SUNY Cobleskill baseball team picked up their first win of the season in a high-scoring 16-12 opener against St. Mary's College of Maryland before falling in game two, 7-5, in a contest called after five innings due to daylight.

Game One: Cobleskill 16, St. Mary's College 12
The SUNY Cobleskill baseball team opened the season with a 16-12 slugfest victory on Saturday afternoon at the Hawk's Nest.

The Fighting Tigers were led by senior first baseman Cole Platt (Oneonta, NY), who wasted no time making an impact by launching a home run in his first at-bat of the season. He finished a perfect 3-for-3 with four RBIs, four runs scored, and a double. Fellow senior Logan Firment (Andes, NY) added to the offensive surge, going 3-for-5 with four RBIs, two runs scored, two doubles, and a stolen base. Shortstop Jeffrey Gutierrez (Bronx, NY) contributed with two doubles, an RBI, a run scored, and a stolen base, while Tony Woodie (West Palm Beach, FL) recorded a double in his Cobleskill debut. Ryan Lansing (Cooperstown, NY) turned in a solid performance on both sides going 2-6 with two RBI's and a double.

On the mound, Alex Burcaiga (West Islip, NY) earned his first win as a Tiger, tossing 3.1 innings while allowing three runs on seven hits and striking out three. Hunter Smith (East Berne, NY) provided key relief with 3.0 innings, allowing two runs on three hits with a strikeout. Tyler Sienko (Binghamton, NY) entered in the ninth and shut the door with two strikeouts.

Platt tied the game at 1-1 in the second inning with a towering homer over the left field fence. Alex Slater (Coxsackie, NY) followed with a sacrifice fly to bring home Firment and give Cobleskill a 2-1 lead. St. Mary's briefly responded to take a 3-2 advantage, but the Tigers' bats came alive.

Cobleskill broke the game open with a seven-run fifth inning to take a 9-3 lead, highlighted by Firment's two-run single down the left field line and Lansing's two-run single to left. The Tigers extended their advantage to 13-3 in the seventh after Firment doubled to left-center to score Platt.

St. Mary's mounted a late rally with a six-run eighth to cut the deficit to 14-12, but Cobleskill answered in the ninth. Firment delivered his second double of the game to score Woodie, and Christian Tedford (Coxsackie, NY) followed with an RBI single to plate Platt, giving the Tigers a 16-12 cushion. Sienko sealed the win in the ninth with a clean inning.

Game Two: Cobleskill 5, St. Mary's College 7 (called after five innings)
The Tigers jumped out to a 4-3 lead through three innings before the hosts used a four-run fourth inning to take control. The game was called after five innings due to lack of daylight.

Gutierrez and Lansing recorded Cobleskill's two hits in the nightcap, with Gutierrez finishing 1-for-3 with an RBI and Lansing also going 1-for-3. Tedford added an RBI via a bases-loaded walk, while Woodie swiped a base.

Connor Mulligan (Cheshire, NY) started on the hill, pitching 3.0 innings and allowing three runs on five hits while striking out one. Marciano Neglia (Saugerties, NY) and Greg Mable (New Fairfield, CT) saw relief action, with Mable tossing 0.2 scoreless innings.

St. Mary's struck first with a run in the opening inning, but the Tigers responded with two runs in the second as Lansing reached on an error to score Firment and Tedford drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home Zach Papanikolatos (Patchoque, NY).

The Seahawks answered with two runs of their own, but Cobleskill regained the lead in the third. Jake Brazzano (Blairstown, NJ) reached on an error that allowed Woodie to score, and Gutierrez followed with an RBI single to bring home Platt for a 4-3 edge.

The game shifted in the fourth when St. Mary's erupted for four runs to take a 7-4 lead. Cobleskill attempted to rally in the fifth when Lansing singled, advanced aggressively on pickoff attempts, and scored on a balk to trim the deficit to 7-5.

The Tigers' comeback bid was cut short as the game was called after five innings due to fading daylight.

Up Next:
The Tigers return to action on March 10 when they travel south to face Roanoke College at 1:00 p.m. in Salem, Virginia.