CORTLAND, N.Y. – Ithaca College took an 8-2 lead after six innings and the Bombers held off Cortland, 9-5, in a non-league contest. Ithaca won its 15th straight game to improve to 19-4 on the year. The Red Dragons are now 18-8.

Colby Gee finished 2-for-3 with a double and walk for Ithaca. Christian Brown and Tim Henry each went 2-for-4 with a walk and Max Addy was 1-for-3 with two walks. Andrew Sanders earned the win with five innings of five-hit ball. He allowed two runs, walked three and struck out one.

Chris Jackson (Wappingers Falls/Roy C. Ketcham), P.J. Rinaldi (Bethel, CT) and Tim Panetta (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) each finished 2-for-3 and Zack Graczyk (Carmel) was 2-for-5 as Cortland finished with 11 hits. Jackson hit a two-run homer, walked once and scored twice. Rinaldi reached base four times on a double, single and two walks in five plate appearances.

Cortland starter Brandon Nemeti (Lancaster) allowed four runs in two and a third innings and took the loss. Tyler Brien (Ilion), the Red Dragons' third reliever, pitched the final four innings. He allowed three hits, no walks and one run and struck out one.

Ithaca scored three times in the top of the first. Christian Brown and Tim Locastro each walked and Tim Henry reached on an infield single to load the bases. With one out, Corey Caswell hit a liner to second that couldn't be handled. The second baseman threw Caswell out at first and Locastro scored. Max Addy then singled to left, and an error on the play allowed Henry to score after he initially held at third.

The Red Dragons answered with two runs in the bottom of the first on a Rinaldi RBI double and a Max Rosing (Rockville Centre/South Side) RBI groundout.  Ithaca picked up a run in the third on a Luke Stark two-out RBI single. In the fourth, an error during a bunt single allowed two Ithaca runs to score, and a third run scored on a double-play grounder.

The Bombers added a run in the sixth on a Caswell sacrifice fly and another in the seventh on a two-out Brown RBI double. In the seventh, Adornetto reached on a one-out bunt single and Jackson hit a two-out homer to right. Rinaldi followed with a bunt single, but an Austin Clock (Niskayuna) deep fly to right was caught against the fence to end the inning. Cortland's final run came when Panetta singled with one out in the eighth and eventually scored on a wild pitch.

Cortland will play Wednesday at Rochester at 5 p.m. The Red Dragons' originally scheduled home game Wednesday versus Mt. St. Vincent has been canceled.

Box Score