CORTLAND, NY – The Cortland baseball team used a six-run second inning to spark an 8-2 victory over Oswego in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) opener on Friday afternoon at Wallace Field. Cortland improves to 9-7 (1-0 SUNYAC), while Oswego falls to 7-5 (0-1 SUNYAC). The teams will play a doubleheader tomorrow beginning at 10:30 a.m.
Zachary Kringdon (Larchmont/Mamaroneck) went 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored, while
Nolan Smith (Hamburg) batted 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI, and scored a run.
Nick Marola (Saratoga/Scotia Glenville) had two hits, drove in a run, and scored a run.
Luis Misla (Tampa, FL/Riverview) struck out seven and allowed two runs on six hits over 7.0 effective innings to record his third win of the season.
Nick Hanson (Ladera Ranch, CA/Aliso Niguel) tossed the final 2.0 innings without allowing a run and struck out four batters.
Emil Sander homered and drove in both of Oswego's runs. Dylan Rosenberg and Anthony Barone each recorded two hits. Joel Hayner tossed 7.1 innings, allowing all eight runs to record the loss.
Oswego scored its only runs in the top of the second inning, and Cortland responded with six runs in the bottom half of the second to take a 6-2 lead. The Red Dragons tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth to complete the scoring.
After a scoreless first inning on both sides, the Lakers tallied a pair of runs with two outs to take an early lead. Misla struck out the first two batters of the inning, before allowing a two-out single to shortstop that Marola made a sliding stop but couldn't make a throw to first. Sander followed with a home run that just barely cleared the fence in left field on the first pitch he saw.
JJ DeLawder (Hyde Park/Franklin D. Roosevelt) led off the bottom of the second with a double in between the right fielder and second baseman. He came around to score on an RBI single through the right side by Kringdon two batters later.
Danny Jackson (Lagrangeville /Arlington) laced a single to right field to advance Kringdon to third, and Marola lined a single up the middle to drive in a run. After a
Chris Bonacci (Syracuse/West Genesee) sacrifice bunt, Jackson came in to score on a wild pitch to make it 3-2.
Lucas Granger (Horseheads) worked a walk, and Smith drove in two runs with a deep fly ball that carried to the warning track and the left fielder could not snag while fighting against the wind and the sun.
Luke Schartner (Bayport/Bayport-Blue Point) then singled to right to drive in Smith for the sixth run of the inning.
Misla held Oswego off the board over the next five innings, but allowed at least one baserunner in each inning until the seventh. In the fourth inning, Smith made an excellent play to gun down a runner at home plate, preventing an Oswego runner from scoring after an errant throw by Misla on a swinging bunt single by Rosenberg with two outs.
On the other side, Hayner retired 13 straight batters between the fourth and eighth innings to keep the Lakers within striking distance.
In the top of the eighth, Oswego brought Sander up to the plate representing the potential-tying run after two walks and a single to right center loaded the bases with two outs, but Wagner induced a flyout to Granger in right field to end the threat.
Cortland tacked on a pair of runs in the eighth.
Marc Stockhausen (Bronx/St. Raymond) drew a pinch-hit walk and advanced to third on a single through the right side by
Dylan Tierney (East Greenbush/Columbia) that deflected off Hayner's glove, and scored on a single through the right side by Kringdon. Three batters later, Bonacci drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in the eighth Cortland run.
The first two Oswego batters reached base with singles in the ninth inning, but
Talon Elkins (Syracuse/West Genesee), who entered at second base as a defensive replacement, raced out to left center to snag a fly ball, and Hanson struck out the next two batters to secure the victory.
