ASHLAND, VA. – Nationally seventh-ranked Cortland split two games to open the season in games played at Randolph-Macon College. The Red Dragons defeated Pitt Bradford, 18-3, before losing to the host Yellow Jackets, 8-4.

Cortland will play Randolph-Macon again on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. in a single contest.

Cortland 18, Pitt Bradford 3

Cortland came out swinging early and often, scoring 16 runs in the first four innings on the way to its victory. Senior Scott Giordano (Croton-on-Hudson/Croton-Harmon) and sophomore Andrew Michalski (Buffalo/St. Francis) led the Red Dragons with three hits each. Giordano went 3-for-3 with a double, two RBI and scored three runs, while Michalski was 3-for-3 with a double, one RBI, and scored two runs.

Junior Ben Rhodes (Amsterdam) supplied two hits and four RBI and sophomore Matt Krafft (Cornwall) finished with two hits and two runs scored. Senior Wyatt Myers (Chittenango) and sophomore Mat Bruno (Rye) each had two RBI. Also contributing to Cortland's offensive attack were senior Colin BeVard (Syracuse/West Genesee) and junior James Varian (Hopewell Junction/Trinity-Pawling) with three and two runs scored, respectively.

Sophomore Shane Mugnolo (Howard Beach/Xavierian) started on the mound and picked up the win after throwing three and two third innings. He allowed one run on four hits with five strikeouts and one walk. He earned the win since he was pulled due to a predetermined pitch count. Sophomore Matthew Funk (Pine Pains) pitched three and a third hitless innings in relief of Mugnolo with one strikeout and one walk.

The Panthers (0-2) were led by Samuel Dreistadt who provided two hits and two RBI. Sophomore Jake McNabb hit a solo home run in the fourth inning.

The Red Dragons came out strong in the bottom of the first inning with three runs, with Bruno driving in the first run of the game and Myers later driving in another run with a double to center field. In the second inning, Cortland erupted for seven runs, highlighted by a Rhodes two-run single to right-center and a RBI double from Michalski. Rhodes also drove in two more runs in the bottom of the third inning with a single into center field.

Following McNabb's homer for the Panthers, the Red Dragons tacked on three more runs in the bottom half of the fourth with RBI hits from Giordano and BeVard and a Bruno sacrifice fly. Paul Franzese (Somers) singled homea run in the fifth and Anthony Donofrio (Massapequa/St. Anthony's) doubled and scored on a Garrett Hunter (Virginia Beach, VA/Frank W. Cox) RBI single in the seventh.

Dreistadt finished off the scoring for Pitt-Bradford in the top of the eighth inning after slashing a two-run single through the right side of the infield.

Randolph-Macon 8, Cortland 4

Randolph-Macon (4-0) scored all eight of its runs with two outs, including a three-run homer by Zach Evans in the second and a two-run homer by Shawn Nickles in the third to take an early 5-0 lead. The Red Dragons outhit the Yellow Jackets, 11-6, and had runners on base in every inning, but couldn't cash in most of their opportunities.

Michalski and Krafft led Cortland with two hits apiece. Michalski scored two runs and also contributed a stolen base, while Krafft drove in two runs with a pair of RBI singles.

Zack Durant (Verona/V-V-S) started for Cortland and allowed five runs on three hits with six strikeouts and a walk in three innings. Brandon Buchan (Seaford/MacArthur) allowed a hit, four walks and two unearned runs with one strikeout in three and a third frames.

Evans finished with four RBI and Nickles drove in two runs for the hosts. Michael Zubovich improved to 2-0 on the season after pitching seven effective innings, scattering seven hits while surrendering only two runs and fanning seven Red Dragon hitters.

Cortland scored its first run in the top of the fifth inning when Michalski doubled down the left field line, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on an Antonio Pragana (Hopewell Junction/John Jay) RBI groundout.

Randolph-Macon increased the lead to 7-1 in the bottom half of the fifth after a failed pickoff attempt with two outs and the bases loaded allowed two runners to score.

Krafft provided a RBI single through the right side of the infield in the top of the sixth inning, and he lined an RBI single up the middle in the top of the eighth to cut Cortland's deficit to 7-3. However, Evans added a sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the eighth to make the score 8-3.

The Red Dragons attempted to rally in the top half of the ninth inning with a leadoff walk by Michalski, followed by a Pragana infield single. The Red Dragons, however, could only muster one run in the inning when Michalski scored on a RBI groundout by Giordano.

(Cortland student intern Mitch Binda contributed to this recap)