SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - Cortland took an 8-0 lead after six and a half innings and held off a late Trinity University comeback as the nationally 24th-ranked Red Dragons defeated the seventh-ranked Tigers, 8-5, at Trinity.
 
Cortland has won the first two games of the four-game series between the clubs and is now 7-5 on the year. Trinity dropped to 13-4. The teams will play Saturday at 2 p.m. (CT) and Sunday at noon (CT) to wrap up the four-game set.
 
Luis Misla (Tampa, FL/Riverview) earned the win with six shutout innings on the mound. He allowed just five hits with no walks and struck out eight batters. Ryan Banks (Woodbury/Syosset), Cortland's third reliever, entered in the eighth after Trinity had scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh. He retired all six batters he faced, one by strikeout, to earn his first save of the season.
 
Dylan Tierney (East Greenbush/Columbia) went 2-for-3 with a double, walk and RBI and Nolan Smith (Hamburg) finished 2-for-6 with two RBI for the Red Dragons. Chris Bonacci (Syracuse/West Genesee) had a single, walk, RBI and two runs scored and Lucas Granger (Horseheads) walked three times and had an RBI.
 
Nicholas Lazzara finished 3-for-4 with an RBI, Callen Singhania was 2-for-3 and Kaleb Woodward tripled in two runs for Trinity. Starter Jake Beck allowed three unearned runs on two hits with a walk and a strikeout in two thirds of an inning to take the loss. Brandon Morio kept Trinity in striking distance with three and two thirds scoreless innings.
 
Cortland struck for three runs in the top of the first innings. An error allowed the first run to score, Tierney drove in a run with a groundout and Adam Mieczkowski (Vestal) hit an RBI single.
The game stayed at 3-0 until the seventh inning when each team scored five runs. In the top of the frame, Tierney doubled with one out and Zachary Kringdon (Larchmont/Mamaroneck) hit a two-out triple to right center to drive in a run. Talon Elkins (Syracuse/West Genesee) walked and Nick Marola (Saratoga/Scotia-Glenville) was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Bonacci and Granger each drew walks to force in runs and Smith hit a two-run single up the middle to give the Red Dragons an 8-3 lead.
 
Trinity answered in the bottom of the seventh with a run on a wild pitch, followed by a John Ramsey RBI grounder on which he was safe due to an error. Woodward's two-run triple and Lazzara's RBI single made it 8-5. Dan Collins (Poughkeepsie/Spackenkill), who entered to pitch prior to the Lazzara single, got out of further trouble with a strikeout to end the inning.