LEXINGTON, S.C. – The nationally top-ranked Cortland baseball teams split a doubleheader versus Case Western Reserve to begin a four-game, neutral-field weekend series with the Spartans at the Lexington County Stadium. Cortland (8-3) won the first game, 12-1, behind a strong outing from starting pitcher Anthony Fusco (Yorktown Heights/Yorktown). Case (4-6) bounced back to win the nightcap, 7-3, after jumping out to a 7-0 lead after four innings.

The teams will play a doubleheader Sunday at 11 a.m., which includes a make-up of their game from Friday that was postponed due to the weather. 
 
Cortland 12, Case Western 1 
 
Fusco allowed only one hit and two walks over six and two thirds scoreless innings for his second win of the season. He struck out six batters. Liam Krasney (Greenville) went an inning and a third and gave up one run on two hits with a strikeout and Matteo Ragusa (New York/Poly Prep Country Day) tossed a hitless and scoreless ninth inning with a strikeout and a walk. 
 
Cortland's offense totaled 12 hits and 13 walks in the victory. Andrew Michalski (Buffalo/St. Francis) was 3-for-4 with a walk, two RBI and three runs and James Varian (Hopewell Junction/Trinity-Pawling) finished 2-for-2 with three walks and an RBI. 
 
Scott Giordano (Croton-on-Hudson/Croton-Harmon) finished 2-for-5 with a double and three RBI. Ben Rhodes (Amsterdam) drew three walks and scored twice, Danny Coleman (Saratoga Springs) was 1-for-3 with two walks and two runs, and Chris Bonacci (Syracuse/West Genesee) walked twice. 
 
Reece Marley took the loss for Case after allowing six runs, three earned, in six innings. Tre Armstrong was 1-for-2 with a walk. 
 
Cortland scored in the third on a Matthew Krafft (Cornwall) RBI infield single and added three in the fourth on a Michalski RBI single, a Nick Chemotti (Warners/West Genesee) pinch-hit sac fly, and a first-and-third rundown play that allowed Rhodes to score from third. The Red Dragons added two in the fifth, one on a Varian RBI single and the other on a second-and-home double steal by Coleman and Mat Bruno (Rye), and one in the eighth on Giordano's RBI single. 
 
Cortland put the game away with five in the ninth on a Michalski bases-loaded walk, an Antonio Pragana (Hopewell Junction/John Jay) RBI single, a Giordano two-run double and a wild pitch that scored Pragana. Case's run came in the eighth on a Jacob Lott sac fly. 

Case Western 7, Cortland 3
 
Evan Faxon earned the win for Case in the second game as he gave up only two unearned runs on six hits and a walk in seven innings with 10 strikeouts. Tyler Horvath gave up one unearned run on a hit and three walks over the final two frames. 

Nick Talarico led the Spartans at the plate, finishing 2-for-4 with a homer, walk and three RBI. Zack Carinci was 2-for-5 with an RBI. 
 
Ryan Flansburg (Queensbury) took the loss after allowing two runs in the first. Mike Hennessy (Stony Brook/Smithtown East), the second of Cortland's three relievers, allowed one run on four hits and a walk with two strikeouts in two and two thirds innings. Spencer Weyand (Hornell) finished with three hitless and scoreless innings with two strikeouts and a walk. 
 
Chemotti went 2-for-4 with a walk and Hunter Holliday (Camden) was 1-for-2 with a walk to pace the Cortland offense. Giordano was 1-for-4 with an infield single in the first inning. He has hit safely in all 11 games this season and has a 17-game hitting streak dating back to last year. 
 
Case scored twice in the first on RBI singles from Jay Smith and RJ Christie and tallied three in the second on a Carinci RBI single and a Talarico two-run single. Nick Harms doubled and eventually scored on an infield grounder in the third to make it 6-0, and Talarico hit a solo homer to left with one out in the fourth to finish the Spartans' scoring. 
 
Cortland finally broke through versus Faxon in the top of the seventh. Bruno led off with an infield pop-up that fell in for a hit and he went to second on a wild pickoff throw. Coleman struck out, but reached safely on a passed ball, and Adam Mieczkowski's (Vestal) reached on a fielder's choice, with Coleman safe at second on the play and Bruno scoring. Two batters later Varian pinch hit and grounded out to first to drive in a run and Cortland trailed 7-2. 
 
The Red Dragons were able to get the potential tying run to the plate in the ninth before coming up short. Bonacci walked with one out and Holliday singled. Krafft reached on an error to load the bases and, with two outs, Giordano walked to force in a run. A groundout, however, ended the rally.