BALTIMORE, MD. - Cortland scored five runs in the top of the sixth inning to wipe out a 1-0 deficit and the nationally second-ranked Red Dragons went on to defeat Frostburg State, 6-3, at the Baltimore Invitational.
Cortland (5-1) will play host Johns Hopkins Sunday at 11 a.m. The Red Dragons were originally scheduled to play three games at the tournament, but weather issues forced a moved of the Hopkins game to Sunday and a cancellation of Sunday's originally scheduled game versus Scranton.
Frostburg (5-4) took a 1-0 lead in the fourth when Brad Garrant led off with a double and eventually scored on a Matt Bougourd two-out RBI single.
Cortland was scoreless through five innings versus Frostburg's Greg Schneider, although the Red Dragons did leave the bases loaded in the second, a runner on third in the third, and two runners on in the fifth.
The sixth inning opened with consecutive singles by
Jack Massa (Shoreham/Shoreham-Wading River),
Justin Teague (North Syracuse/Cicero-North Syracuse) and
Matthew Personius (Binghamton/Chenango Valley) to load the bases with no outs. Schneider struck out the next batter, but
Joe Tardif (Cutchogue/Mattituck) singled to left to drive in two runs to give Cortland a 2-1 lead.
Jon Warner (Tully) greeted reliever Trenton Eirich with an RBI single to center to extend the lead to 3-1. The Red Dragons' other two runs in the frame came via bases-loaded walks by
Matt Michalski (Buffalo/St. Francis) and Massa.
The Bobcats, who lost to Cortland at last year's NCAA New York Regional and twice at the 2015 NCAA Division III World Series, worked their way back to within 5-3. Bougourd plated a run in the sixth with an RBI fielder's choice. Garrant led off with another double in the eighth and scored on a Matt Jeffery one-out groundout. Cortland added an insurance run in the ninth when Massa singled and pinch runner
Billy Kozak (Sidney) eventually scored on a
Patrick Schetter (Beacon) RBI fielder's choice.
Jeff Cooke (Rome/Rome Free Academy) earned the win for Cortland after allowing only one run on two hits in five innings. He struck out four batters and did not walk anyone.
Payten Boice (Homer) allowed two runs, one earned, on three hits over two innings with four strikeouts and no walks.
Mike Harrington (Glens Falls) entered in the eighth after Garrant's leadoff double and retired all six batters he faced for his first save of the season.
Massa finished 3-for-4 at the plate with a walk and RBI. Teague was 2-for-3 with a walk and Warner went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Garrant ended 3-for-4 for three runs scored to account for three of Frostburg's five hits. Schneider, a 2015 All-American, allowed eight hits and four walks and struck out eight in five and a third innings and dropped to 2-1 on the spring.
