Cards in National Rankings for First Time Ever

March 30, 2010

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. (March 30, 2010) - SUNY Plattsburgh's baseball team made program history on Tuesday by appearing in the season debut of the American Baseball Coaches' Association national rankings for NCAA Division III. The Cardinals received 42 points for No. 26 in the Top 30 coaches' poll.

"It's a great step forward for our program. The national ranking would mean more if it was at the end of the season," said Kris Doorey, who's in his ninth year at the helm of the Cardinals. "Hopefully we can continue to play at the high level that we have come to expect. This notoriety presents a challenge: instead of being the hunter, now we're the hunted because everybody is going to want to beat us."

In other Cardinal baseball news, the Plattsburgh at Skidmore game that was rescheduled for Wednesday has been postponed again due to field conditions. The teams will try to play on April 15 at a site and time yet to be determined.

Plattsburgh is currently on a school-record 15-game win streak after losing its March 4 opener. The 15-1 ledger to start the season after 16 games is another program benchmark.

The Cardinals are also earning national attention from the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, which endorses a Top 25 poll published by D3Baseball.com. The team is listed in the "others receiving votes" category with 35 points from sports information directors and coaches representing all eight regions.

Plattsburgh's success to date can be attributed to excellent hitting, solid pitching and sound defense. Donny Coolidge (.417) and Tory Bouyea (.415) are both batting over-.400 for an offense that hits at a .315 clip as a team and scores 7.13 runs a game. Dan Tracy (4-0, 1.91 ERA) and Matt O'Leary (3-0, 3.67) headline a pitching staff that owns a 3.30 earned-run average and limits opponents to a .263 batting average. The Cardinals, who have committed only 22 errors in 586 chances for a .962 fielding percentage, have allowed 3.75 runs per game.

Defending NCAA champion Saint Thomas (Minn.) is atop both polls. Cortland State (No. 13 ABCA/No. 22 D3Baseball.com) is the only other State University of New York Athletic Conference team, besides Plattsburgh, to be recognized in either national rankings.

Baseball has been an intercollegiate sport at Plattsburgh since 2002 after a 26-hiatus that followed the first era go from 1947 to 1975.