CORTLAND, N.Y. – The nationally 24th-ranked Cortland baseball team scored a combined 31 runs in a doubleheader sweep over visiting Fredonia in SUNYAC play. The Red Dragons (27-10-1, 15-2 SUNYAC) won the first game, 18-1, in a contest halted after seven innings due to the league's 10-run rule, and Cortland won the second game, 13-7, pulling away from a one-run lead at the midway point.
Cortland and Fredonia will finish the three-game series Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at Wallace Field.
Cortland 18, Fredonia 1 (7 inn.)
Luis Misla (Tampa, Fl/Riverview) earned his sixth win after allowing only three hits and one run over five innings. He struck out seven and didn't walk anyone.
Brady Mazzeo (Averill Park) tossed a scoreless and hitless sixth with a strikeout and two walks and
Anthony Fusco (Yorktown Heights/Yorktown) retired the side in order with one strikeout in the seventh.
Cortland finished with 21 hits, including 14 players with at least one hit.
Nick Marola (Saratoga/Scotia-Glenville) went 3-for-3 with a triple and two RBI,
Nolan Smith (Hamburg) was 3-for-3 with a double, walk, RBI and two runs, and
Zachary Kringdon (Larchmont/Mamaroneck) was 2-for-3 with a double.
Mat Bruno (Rye) went 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI and
Dylan Mackenzie (Canandaigua/Canandaigua Academy) finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
Brady Ventura, Tyler Curtis and Christian Pagano each went 1-for-3 for Fredonia. Morgan Zientara started for the Blue Devils and gave up seven runs, all in the third inning. Cortland added four in the fourth to go up 11-1, followed by three in the fifth and four in the sixth.
Cortland 13, Fredonia 7
Mackenzie and Bruno combined for 11 RBI for the Red Dragons in the second game. Mackenzie went 3-for-5 with a homer and six RBI and Bruno was 2-for-3 with a homer, walk, five RBI and three runs.
Nick Chemotti (Syracuse/West Genesee) and
Mitchell Kelly (Webster/Webster Thomas) each were 2-for-4, with Kelly driving in a run, and Marola went 2-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored. Cortland finished the game with 15 hits.
Fredonia (13-22, 3-14 SUNYAC) registered 10 hits, led by 2-for-4 outings from Pagano and Jake Dunstan and 2-for-5 efforts by Garrett Stuckey and Kyle Tedford. Stuckey homered, while Ethan Behnke and Ventura each drove in two runs.
Cortland starter
Will McCarthy (Farmingdale) allowed two runs on four hits over two and a third innings. He left in the third inning with Cortland leading 4-2 and the Red Dragons never gave up the lead. Five relievers followed, with the fifth,
Tommy Lynch (West Seneca/Canisius), earning the win as the most effective. He tossed the final four and two thirds innings and gave up three hits and one unearned run with five strikeouts and no walks. Lynch is 4-0 on the season.
Mackenzie hit a three-run homer in the first to put Cortland on top 3-0. His two-run double in the fourth gave the Red Dragons a 7-3 lead, but Fredonia scored three in the top of the fifth, including back-to-back bases loaded hit by pitches by Behnke and Ventura, to pull within 7-6. Lynch entered at that point and struck out the next two batters with the bases still loaded to preserve the lead and went the rest of the way.
Bruno's three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth gave Cortland some breathing room at 10-6. He also drove in a run with a sac fly in the seventh, along with a fielder's choice RBI earlier in the game.
Nick Syposs took the loss for Fredonia, allowing seven runs in four and a third innings. He gave up eight hits, struck out seven and walked three.
