ITHACA, N.Y. – Ithaca rallied to score five runs in the bottom of the seventh and one run in the eighth as the Bombers and Cortland played to a 10-10 tie. The game was called after eight innings due to darkness. Cortland, ranked 14th nationally by D3baseball.com and seventh by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), is now 14-5-1 on the season. Ithaca, ranked 20th by the ABCA, is 9-3-1.

The tie is Cortland's third in the last eight seasons. The Red Dragons tied Manhattanville at home, 16-16, in 2010 and played to a 2-2 deadlock at Ithaca in 2005. Coincidentally, in both of those seasons the Red Dragons eventually advanced to finish second nationally at the NCAA Div. III World Series. Ithaca played to a tie for the first time since tying both Utica and Cortland during the 2005 season.

Cortland sophomore Chris Jackson (Wappingers Falls/Roy C. Ketcham) finished 3-for-4 with a homer, four RBI and two runs scored and sophomore Tim Panetta (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) was 3-for-5 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored. Senior Matt June (Colonie) ended 2-for-4 with a walk, RBI and two runs.

Tim Locastro and Vinny Gneo each went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored for Ithaca. Teagen Barresi, Mike Rosenbaum and Matt Keller were each 2-for-5, with Barresi driving in two runs.

Junior Zachary Badanes (Syosset) started for Cortland and pitched four innings. He was relieved after allowing two hits to start the fifth inning and for the game gave up seven hits and two runs with two strikeouts and no walks. John Prendergast went five innings as Ithaca's starter and was touched for seven hits, four walks and six runs, five earned.

Cortland took a 3-0 lead in the top of the first on a Jackson two-run single and Panetta RBI single. Keller's RBI single put the Bombers on the board in the bottom of the inning. The Red Dragons took a 4-1 lead in the third on an Andrew Pezzuto (Hastings) RBI single and Jackson's two-run homer in the fifth extended the lead to 6-1.

Ithaca scored in the bottom of the fifth when Locastro led off with a double and eventually scored on a fielder's choice. The Red Dragons responded with a John Adornetto (Commack) sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth, but the Bombers scored twice in the bottom of the inning on a Locastro two-run single to cut the deficit to 7-4.

Cortland posted three runs in the seventh to take a 10-4 lead. Jackson singled and scored on a Panetta double. Panetta scored three batters later on a June groundout and the final run scored on a passed ball. Ithaca's five-run seventh started with back-to-back doubles by Keller and Barresi. Gneo singled in a run two batters later. Following another single, the next two Ithaca batters struck out, but Locastro hit a single to right center to plate two runs and Cortland's lead was cut to 10-9.

In the bottom of the eighth, Barresi reached on an infield single with one out and was forced out on a fielder's choice. Pinch runner Jeff Mathers stole second and Gneo hit a two-out RBI single to center to tie the game.

Cortland will host Plattsburgh in three SUNYAC games on Friday and Saturday, March 30-31. The teams will play a single nine-inning game Friday at 3 p.m. and a seven-inning/nine-inning doubleheader Saturday at noon.

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