In the Keuka College baseball team's 2015 opener, the Wolfpack saw a ninth-inning rally come up just short as the Green and Gold couldn't overcome a 6-1 deficit and fell to Keene (N.H.) State 6-5 Friday afternoon.

The Wolfpack bounced back and earned a split of their first two games thanks to a 5-2 win over SUNY Plattsburgh Saturday on day two of Keuka's 12-game, eight-day  odyssey at the RussMat Baseball tournament in Winter Haven, Fla.

Trailing 2-1 entering the bottom of the eighth against Plattsburgh (7-8), Keuka (1-1) pushed across four runs to take the lead.

Junior Billy McDermott (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights) led off with a single, and senior Jake Burachalk (Binghamton, N.Y./Binghamton) followed with a single to put runners on first and second with no outs.

Senior Jon Borchert (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners one base, and after freshman Brian Colbert (Dryden, N.Y./Dryden) was intentionally walked, junior Brett Fenton (Troy, N.Y./Hudson Valley CC) laced a bases-clearing triple to right field for a 4-2 lead.

McDermott, Burachalk and sophomore pinch runner Jared Taylor (North Syracuse, N.Y./Bishop Ludden) each came home to score on Fenton's triple.

Following a fly out, the Keuka lead grew to 5-2 after sophomore Robert LaRue (Skillman, N.J./Montgomery) singled into center field.

Junior Kyle Michaud (Elmira Heights, N.Y./Thomas A. Edison) made the lead stand, striking out three batters during 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief.

Neither school scored until Plattsburgh pushed across a run in the fifth on a throwing error. Keuka evened the score in the seventh. Fenton led off with a walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from senior Tommy Drumm (Oswego, N.Y./Oswego), moved to third on a groundout and scored on junior Kyle Dailey's (Yonkers, N.Y./Yonkers) single to right field.

The Cardinals reclaimed the lead in the top of the eighth on a wild pitch and were threatening to add more, but Michaud got a strikeout to strand runners at first and third, setting the stage for the four-run eighth.

Fenton finished 2-for-2 with two runs scored and three RBI, while Burachalk was 2-for-4 with a run scored against Plattsburgh.

Senior Cameron Hood (Macedon, N.Y./Palmyra-Macedon) took the no-decision, allowing two runs on five hits with three strikeouts over 7 2/3 effective innings.

In the season opener, senior Keith Ryan (Fort Myers, Fla./Ave Marie University) struck out 10 batters and allowed three unearned runs on five hits with no walks over 6 1/3 innings of relief.

Keuka trailed 1-0 heading into the bottom of the first, but pulled even on a sacrifice fly from Borchert.

Keene State pushed across two runs in the fourth, one in the seventh and two in the eighth, and led 6-1 going into the bottom of the ninth before the Green and Gold staged a comeback.

Dailey led off with a single, freshman Joe Marasco (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) reached on an error, and Colbert drove home two runs on a double.

Freshman John Rizzo (Auburn, N.Y./Auburn) reached on an error, allowing Colbert to score and trim the deficit to 6-4.

Rizzo moved to third when freshman Jake Redding (Victor, N.Y./Victor) reached on an error, and Rizzo made it a one-run game when he scored on McDermott's fielder's choice.

Keuka loaded the bases with two outs after Burachalk and Borchert each drew walks, but Keene State ended the game with a strikeout to thwart the Keuka comeback.

Keuka plays a doubleheader with Union College starting at 12:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon.