AUBURN, N.Y. – Senior Mike Zaccardo (Rochester/Irondequoit) went 4-for-5 with an RBI and sophomore Andersen Gardner (Fairport) finished 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBI as top-seeded Cortland defeated eighth-seeded Grove City, 10-1, in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Baseball Regional at Falcon Park.
The Red Dragons (39-3) extended their school-record winning streak to 35 games and will face Montclair State in the second round Thursday at 4:30 p.m. Montclair rallied with three runs in the eighth inning to defeat Eastern Connecticut State, 8-7, in Wednesday's first game.
Cortland junior Brendan Rowlands (Utica/Notre Dame) earned the win for Cortland. He allowed three hits and five walks and struck out seven in six scoreless innings and is 4-0 on the season. Freshman Michael Mahay (Whitesboro) gave up just one hit and struck out one in two scoreless innings of relief. Grove City (18-17) broke up the Red Dragons' shutout bid with a run in the ninth on a Brian Moran RBI single.
Cortland grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first when junior Mike Avery (Cortland) reached on a bunt single, went to third on a Zaccardo single and scored on senior Matt Vitalone's (Rome/Rome Free Academy) sacrifice fly. In the second, senior Anthony Coromato (Utica/Notre Dame) walked, stole second and scored on a double by senior Joey Russo (Inwood/Lawrence).
Rowlands got into trouble in the third when the Wolverines loaded the bases with no outs on a Seth Thompson and a pair of walks. Rowlands escaped the jam, however, with two strikeouts and a flyout.
Cortland added to the lead with two runs in the bottom of the fifth. The first run came on a Zaccardo RBI single and the other on a passed ball. Two more runs crossed the plate in the sixth on RBI singles by Coromato and Russo. The Red Dragons broke the game open with four runs in the seventh on back-to-back homers by Gardner - a three-run shot - and senior John Giametta Jr. (Marlboro).
Cortland finished with 16 hits. Russo went 2-for-3 with a walk and has hit safely in nine straight games. Thompson was 3-for-4 with a walk for Grove City.
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