GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Cortland baseball team, ranked 15th nationally by D3baseball.com and 19th by the ABCA, opened its 2025 season with an 11-4 win over Marietta College during the opening day of the D3 Showcase tournament.
Cortland continues play at the tournament with three more games in Greensboro - Saturday at 5 p.m. versus Lynchburg and Sunday versus Christopher Newport at 2 p.m. and Denison at 5 p.m.
Cortland fell behind 3-0 in the bottom of the first inning on a Nick Bonnizzio two-run homer, a Will Loftus triple and a Diego DeCello RBI single.
The Red Dragons answered back with three in the top of the second to tie the game. After singles by
Zachary Kringdon (Larchmont/Mamaroneck) and
Dylan Tierney (East Greenbush/Columbia),
Jon Munoz (Yorktown Heights/Yorktown) walked to load the bases. With one out,
Chris Bonacci (Syracuse/West Genesee) walked to force in a run and
Luke Schartner (Bayport/Bayport-Blue Point) followed with a two-run single to left.
Cortland broke the game open with seven runs in the third. With two outs and runners on first and second, Marietta struck out a batter to apparently end the inning. The pitch, however, was in the dirt, and the catcher's throw to first skipped past the first baseman for the game's lone error by either team, allowing a run to score. Cortland capitalized on that mistake for six more runs - a wild pitch brought in a run, Schartner doubled to left to drive in two, and later in the inning
Adam Mieczkowski (Vestal) hit a three-run triple to left.
The final run came in the fourth when Tierney led off with a double, moved to third on a
Nick Marola (Saratoga/Scotia-Glenville) single and scored on Bonacci's sacrifice fly to left. Marietta scored its final run in the bottom of the ninth on a Bonnizzio RBI double.
Schartner finished 2-for-3 with three walks and four RBI and Tierney went 2-for-5 with two runs scored. Marola went 2-for-4, Mieczkowski drove in three runs, Bonacci plated two runs, and
Nolan Smith walked three times. Cortland was outhit, 12-9, but drew 10 walks and was twice hit by pitches.
DeCello finished 3-for-4 with an RBI, Bonnizzio was 3-for-5 with three RBI and Cael Magill went 2-for-4 for the Pioneers (0-1).
Cortland starting pitcher
Matthew Nochowitz (Glen Head/North Shore) tossed four innings before being removed due to a predetermined pitch count and earned the win. He allowed three runs on six hits with one walk and four strikeouts.
Ryan Banks (Woodbury/Syosset) pitched three scoreless innings, giving up only two hits and striking out three, and
Tommy Lynch (West Seneca/Canisius) gave up a run on four hits with three strikeouts and a walk over the final two frames.
Austin Ziance took the loss for Marietta, giving up eight runs, but only three earned, in two and two thirds innings.
