ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Four Cortland pitchers combined to allow only three hits and three unearned runs and struck out 13 batters as the nationally seventh-ranked Red Dragons defeated Rochester, 11-3, under the lights at the Yellowjackets' Towers Field.
Junior
Steven Kimmelman (Riverhead) entered in relief in the third inning and earned the win when Cortland scored four runs in the top of the fourth to erase a 2-0 deficit. Kimmelman allowed one hit and one walk and struck out five in three and a third scoreless innings.
Cortland starter
Matt Holling (Horseheads) pitched the first two innings and did not allow any hits. He walked one and struck out four, and was charged with two unearned runs when the two batters who reached on him in the third on a walk and error both scored.
Brandon McClain (Coram/Longwood) gave up two hits and one unearned run in two and two-thirds innings after he replaced Kimmelman. He struck out two and walked two.
Kyle Barkley (Penn Yan) pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts.
Mitch Hollander (Woodbury/Syosset) led Cortland's 14-hit offensive attack by going 3-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored.
Zack Graczyk (Carmel) and
Michael DeCarr (Syracuse/Westhill) were each 2-for-5 and
Chris Jackson (Wappingers Falls/Roy C. Ketcham) went 1-for-3 with two walks.
Rochester threw 10 pitchers in the game. Adam Sullivan took the loss after giving up six hits and four runs in the fourth.
The Yellowjackets took the lead in the third on a Steve Eychner two-run single. Cortland responded with its four-run fourth inning that featured a
Donny Castaldo (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) RBI triple, a wild pitch that scored Castaldo, and RBI singles by Hollander and Graczyk. The Red Dragons added a pair of runs in the fifth on Castaldo's sacrifice fly and an error on a ball hit by Hollander.
Rochester loaded the bases with one out in the seventh on an error, a walk and an Evan Janifer single. McClain struck out the next batter before issuing a walk to Sam Slutsky to force in a run. McClain escaped the jam with another strikeout.
Cortland scored three times in the eighth on a pair of wild pitches and a Jackson RBI groundout and added two more in the ninth on a Hollander RBI double and a
Keith Andrews (Commack) fielder's choice grounder.
Cortland will host SUNY Old Westbury in a non-league game 3 p.m. Friday. Also, the location of Red Dragons' game at Misericordia University Sunday has been moved to PNC Field in Moosic, Pa., the home of the New York Yankees' Triple-A affiliate. That game is scheduled for 2 p.m.
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