GRAND CHUTE, WIS. – Brandon Serio (Bedford Hills/Fox Lane) threw a complete game six-hitter as nationally top-ranked Cortland defeated second-ranked Frostburg State, 4-1, during the second day of competition at the NCAA Div. III Baseball World Series.
 
The Red Dragons (42-4) advance to the finals of the four-team Pool A and will face either Frostburg (42-8) or Ramapo Sunday at 4:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m. Eastern). The Bobcats and the Roadrunners will play Sunday at 10 a.m. Cortland needs one win versus that winner – either Sunday or Monday – to advance to the best-of-three championship series versus the Pool B champion. Cortland is off to a 2-0 start for the first time in its 13 World Series appearances.
 
The game featured a battle of All-Americans on the mound. Frostburg's Clayton Freimuth was a first-team selection and Serio a second-team choice by D3baseball.com. Serio, now 8-0, allowed only one unearned run, walked one and struck out a season-high 10 batters, two shy of his career best 12 last season versus RPI. Freimuth, on the other hand, allowed at least one baserunner in each of his seven-plus innings. He allowed eight hits and seven walks, struck out four, and was charged with four runs. He dropped to 8-3 with the loss.
 
Cortland scored in the bottom of the first when Mark DeMilio (Valhalla) and Conrad Ziemendorf (Penfield/Webster Schroeder) led off with singles, Vinny Bomasuto (Dunkirk) bunted the runners to second and third, and Anthony Simon (Suffern/Don Bosco Prep (NJ)) hit an RBI single through the left side.
 
The Red Dragons extended their lead to 3-0 in the second. Fabio Ricci (Hawthorne/Westlake) drew a one-out walk, Justin Teague (Syracuse/Cicero-North Syracuse) singled with two outs, and a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third. DeMilio walked, and Ziemendorf was hit by a pitch to force in a run. Bomasuto then drew a walk to bring home the second run.
 
Frostburg scored its run in the fifth. Serio struck out the first two batters before JT Tipton reached on an error. Greg Schneider singled through the left side, and Ricky Castro hit an RBI single to center. Serio fanned the next hitter to escape further damage.
 
Cortland added an insurance run in the eighth. Austin Clock (Niskayuna) chased Freimuth with a leadoff double. Adam Smith (Vestal) bunted Clock to third and Ricci hit an RBI single through a drawn-in infield.
 
Teague finished 2-for-3 and Ricci was 1-for-1 with three walks. Eight of Cortland's nine starters recorded at least one hit as the Red Dragons finished with nine hits and eight walks. Schneider and Ricky Brady were each 2-for-4 for the Bobcats.

Box Score

Cortland Postgame Press Conference

Full Game Replay (NCAA.com)

Tournament Interactive Bracket