CANTON, N.Y. - Cortland exploded for 16 runs over the first three innings and six pitchers combined for a four-hit shutout as the Red Dragons clinched the SUNYAC regular-season baseball title with a 17-0 win at Canton. The game was called after seven innings due to the conference's 10-run rule.
 
Cortland improved to 26-11, including wins in 16 of its last 17 games. The Red Dragons closed out their SUNYAC schedule with a 15-3 league mark, one game better than both New Paltz and Oswego. Cortland will host the SUNYAC's four-team, double-elimination tournament, with an NCAA automatic berth on the line, this upcoming week. Cortland will face fourth-seeded Oneonta Thursday at noon, followed by second-seeded New Paltz and third seeded Oswego at 3:30 p.m. The tournament continues with three games on Friday and the championship round (one or two games) on Saturday.
 
Cortland finished the game versus the Roos with 12 hits, 10 walks and five hit batters. Zachary Kringdon (Larchmont/Mamaroneck) finished 2-for-2 with a walk, two RBI and two runs scored. He was the lone Red Dragon with multiple hits. Dylan Tierney (East Greenbush/Columbia) hit a grand slam and finished 1-for-2 with a walk, four RBI and two runs and Talon Elkins (Syracuse/West Genesee) was 1-for-1 with a walk, hit by pitch, two RBI and three runs scored.
 
Nolan Smith (Hamburg) drove in three runs and ended the day 1-for-1 with a walk, sac fly, three RBI and two runs. Luke Schartner (Bayport/Bayport-Blue Point) was 1-for-2 with a walk, two RBI and two runs and Adam Mieczkowski (Vestal) drove in two runs.
 
Matthew Nochowitz (Glen Head/North Shore), the first of a predetermined rotation of Red Dragon hurlers, tossed the first two innings and was awarded the victory. He's 5-0 on the season. Nochowitz allowed two hits and struck out two batters. The other five Cortland pitchers - Nick Jessen (Syracuse/West Genesee), Tyler Blake (Cortland), Warren Miller (Plattsburgh), Paul Byrne (Pittsford/Pittsford Sutherland) and Will McCarthy (Farmingdale) - each threw one inning. McCarthy struck out all three batters he faced, while Blake, Miller and Byrne each fanned one batter and didn't allow any hits.
 
Canton (6-23, 3-15 SUNYAC) was led by Bradley Mills, who went 1-for-2, and Eliezer Vazquez and Lance Phillips Jr., who were each 1-for-3. Anthony Favorito took the loss after allowing nine runs in two innings.
 
Smith's sac fly gave Cortland a 1-0 lead in the first. Cortland's eight-run second included an Elkins two-run single, bases-loaded walks by Smith and Schartner, and Tierney's grand slam. Kringdon hit a two-run single, Smith and Schartner each singled home runs, Nick Marola (Saratoga/Scotia-Glenville) walked with the bases loaded and Mieczkowski hit a two-run single in a seven-run third to make it 16-0. The Red Dragons' final run came via a Dan Collins (Poughkeepsie/Spackenkill) RBI single in the fourth.