CORTLAND, NY - Nolan Smith (Hamburg) hit a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the fourth inning, and the Red Dragon pitching staff made it stand up the rest of the way in a 2-1 win for the top-seeded Cortland baseball team over Oswego on the second day of the 2025 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Baseball Tournament on Saturday at Wallace Field.

Cortland is 28-11 on the year, and advances to the championship round of the conference tournament tomorrow. The Red Dragons will face fourth-seeded Oneonta at 10 a.m., with an "if necessary" game to follow if Oneonta wins the first game. Oneonta advanced to the championship round with a pair of wins over New Paltz and Oswego in elimination games. 

Smith finished the game 2-for-4 as the lone Red Dragon to record multiple hits. Zachary Kringdon (Larchmont/Mamaroneck) went 1-for-3 with a double. Dylan Tierney (Columbia/East Greenbush) batted 1-for-3 and scored a run. Talon Elkins (Syracuse/West Genesee) singled and drove in the other Cortland run. 

Nick Jessen (Syracuse/West Genesee) started on the mound for the Red Dragons, earning the win after throwing 5.0 innings and allowing just one run. Dan Collins (Poughkeepsie/Spackenkill) pitched 2.1 scoreless innings in relief, while Tommy Lynch (West Seneca/Canisius) pitched 1.1 hitless innings with three strikeouts. Zack Zarrilli (Farmingdale) entered the game with two outs in the top of the ninth inning as a situational lefty to earn the one-out save. 

Joel Hayner took the loss for Oswego, allowing two earned runs over 7.0 innings with nine strikeouts. Tishawn Featherstone batted 3-for-4 and scored the lone Oswego run. Daniel Winchester was 2-for-3, and Dylan Rosenberg drove in the Oswego run. 

Each team was retired in order in the first inning, and the sides were unable to score in the second despite leadoff hits, as Winchester led off the second with a single but was stranded, and Smith had a leadoff double but Cortland could not bring him home. 

The Red Dragons struck first in the bottom of the third, as Tierney led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Lucas Granger (Horseheads). Elkins lined a single over the third baseman's head to drive in Tierney and give Cortland a 1-0. 

Oswego tied the score in the top of the fourth when Featherstone, Winchester, and Rosenberg hit back-to-back-to-back singles. After a flyout to right, Nick Marola (Saratoga/Scotia-Glenville) made an impressive stop to snare a grounder up the middle by the Lakers to prevent Oswego from taking the lead. 

Leading off the bottom of the fourth, Smith blasted a 1-2 pitch over the fence in right field for his first homer of the year to allow Cortland to re-gain a 2-1 lead. 

Collins entered the game in the sixth and allowed a leadoff single to Featherstone, but escaped danger with a strike-em-out, throw-em-out, with Kringdon gunning down Featherstone trying to steal second. 

In the seventh, each team made an impressive defensive play to prevent at least one run. Elkins lunged to his left to snare a liner and strand runner on first and second for Oswego. Cortland had runners on first and third n the bottom of the inning after a leadoff double by Kringdon and a bunt single by Adam Mieczkowski (Vestal), but could not score as Hayner struck out two straight batters and then Rosenberg made a leaping grab on Elkins' line drive at short.

In the top of the eighth, Lynch entered in relief of Collins with runners on first and second with one out, and struck out two straight to end the inning. 

The Lakers got the tying run on second with nobody out in the top of the ninth after a throwing error and a stolen base, but Lynch retired the next two batters on a foul popout and a strikeout. Zarrilli came on to induce a groundout for the final out.