SUNYAC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
SEMIFINAL SERIES (BEST-OF-3): #4 ONEONTA RED DRAGONS AT #1 CORTLAND RED DRAGONS
Friday-Saturday, May 1-2, 2026 
Wallace Field – Cortland, NY

SERIES SCHEDULE…
Game 1: Friday – 3 p.m.
Game 2: Saturday – 12 p.m.
Game 3 (if necessary): Saturday – 3 p.m.
 
FOLLOW ALONG…

LIVE STATS
VIDEO 
PROGRAM 

SEMIFINAL TICKET INFORMATION 
-Online Ticketing Only  
-Adults (18+) - $6 ($5 + $1 service fee)
-Youth (Ages 5-17) - $4 ($3 + $1 service fee)
-SUNYAC students with ID are free
-Ticket Links (FRIDAY  |  SATURDAY)

SEMIFINAL MATCHUP… Top-seeded Cortland begins its SUNYAC title defense with a semifinal matchup against fourth-seeded Oneonta, starting on Friday afternoon and continuing on Saturday at Wallace Field in Cortland.  
 
The SUNYAC tournament takes on a different format for just this season, before undergoing another change to the tournament format for the 2027 season. Instead of a double-elimination tournament as in the past, the top two teams during the regular season host best-of-3 semifinal series against the third and fourth seeds from the regular season (#1 vs. #4, #2 vs. #3). The winners of each semifinal round advance to the championship round, which is another best-of-3 series hosted by the highest remaining seed on May 8-9.  
 
Cortland secured the SUNYAC regular-season title and the number one seed in the SUNYAC tournament with a 4-3 victory in 10 innings against Oswego on Apr. 21. As the top seed, Cortland earned the right to host a semifinal round on Friday and Saturday, as well as a potential championship game next weekend.
 
Cortland and Oneonta have played 20 previous times in the SUNYAC tournament, with Cortland holding a decisive 18-2 advantage in those contests. Cortland knocked off Oneonta twice in last year's conference tournament, winning in the opening game of the tournament by a 6-3 score and also earning a dominant 16-1 victory in the final game to secure the conference title. 
 
Cortland is in search of a 38th SUNYAC championship overall, and has won 18-of-24 conference tournaments under head coach Joe Brown (no tournament was conducted during the 2017 and 2020 seasons). Cortland is also looking to claim back-to-back conference titles for the first time since 2021-22. 
 
Oneonta has won six previous SUNYAC titles, but has not won a conference championship since 1978. Under head coach Ben Grimm, Oneonta has qualified for the conference tournament in three of the last four seasons, including an appearance in the championship round last season.   
 
THE PATH FORWARD… The winner of this weekend's semifinal series between Oneonta and Cortland will advance to face the winner of the other semifinal round that features third-seeded New Paltz traveling to second-seeded Oswego. If Cortland wins its semifinal series, the championship series would be played at Wallace Field Friday-Saturday, May 8-9. If Oneonta were to advance, the winner of the Oswego-New Paltz series would host the championship round as the highest remaining seed. 
 
Oswego earned the right to host the other semifinal round with a 14-4 conference record and a 20-14 overall record. The Lakers are looking for their 16th conference title all-time, which would also be their conference championship since 2018.
 
New Paltz sported a 23-13 overall record and a 11-7 league mark to place third during the league regular season. The Hawks claimed their first conference title in the 2024 season, and are making their third straight appearance in the conference tournament in their final season as members of the conference before joining the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) for the 2026-27 school year. 
 
SUNYAC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT BRACKET
 
LAST TIME WE MET… Behind a dominant outing from starting pitcher Warren Miller (Plattsburgh) and a late home run from Logan Karwowski (Clay/Cicero-North Syracuse), Cortland defeated Oneonta, 6-4, in the last meeting of the teams on Apr. 24, 2026.
 
Cortland improved to 25-8-1 overall and 15-1 in SUNYAC play, while Oneonta fell to 19-17 and 7-9 in conference. The other two scheduled games of the regular-season series were canceled due to weather, since the result would have no impact on conference tournament seeding. 
 
Miller was outstanding on the mound. The left-hander threw seven shutout innings, allowing just one hit while striking out a career-high 12 batters and walking three. He took a no-hitter into the bottom of the seventh inning before allowing a Joseph Monserrat leadoff single. Miller, however, received a no decision as Oneonta rallied to tie the game at 4-4 with four runs in the eighth.
 
Cortland gave Miller early support, scoring in each of the first two innings. In the first, Lucas Granger (Horseheads) walked and advanced to third on a double by Trey McGowan (Blue Point/Bayport-Blue Point) before scoring on an RBI groundout by Tristan Gatchalian (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor). The Red Dragons added another run in the second when Anthony Carlo (North/Bellmore St. Anthony's) doubled and later came home on a sacrifice fly by Danny Jackson (Lagrangeville/Arlington) to make it 2-0.
 
Cortland extended its lead to 3-0 in the fifth inning. Granger again sparked the offense with a walk, and after McGowan reached, Gatchalian delivered an RBI single to center, netting his second RBI of the game. The Red Dragons added what proved to be a key insurance run in the eighth inning when Talon Elkins (Syracuse/West Genesee) walked, moved up on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on an RBI single by Carlo to push the lead to 4-0.
 
However, Oneonta mounted a sudden rally in the bottom of the eighth after Miller exited the game. The hosts' four-run inning was highlighted by a two-run double from Sean Clinton and RBI contributions from Joseph Monserrat and Zachary Rowe.
 
Cortland responded immediately in the top of the ninth. Karwowski led off the inning with a solo home run to left field to regain the lead. Later in the inning, Granger singled and eventually scored on an RBI single by Elkins to extend the advantage to 6-4.
 
Ryan McLaughlin (Warwick/Warwick Valley) earned the win in relief, improving to 7-1 on the season after recording the final five outs and stopping the Oneonta rally. He entered in the eighth with one out and runners on first and second with the game tied and induced a flyout and groundout, and he gave up just one single in the ninth.
 
At the plate, Granger led the way by reaching base four times, scoring three runs and collecting two hits. Gatchalian finished with two hits and two RBI, while Carlo added three hits and an RBI. McGowan also recorded two hits as Cortland totaled 12 hits as a team. Elkins added an RBI and reached base twice.
 
Matt Sandoval was 2-for-4 for Oneonta. Starting pitcher Zachary Rowe allowed three runs in five innings. Lukas Jachens, Oneonta's third reliever, took the loss after giving up the two runs in the ninth.
 
THE CORTLAND CAPSULE… Cortland enters the conference tournament riding a five-game winning streak and with a 25-8-1 overall record for the season. The Red Dragons claimed the outright SUNYAC regular-season title for the fourth consecutive season, posting a 15-1 record in league play. 
 
Cortland entered the season ranked 13th nationally by D3baseball.com and 21st by the ABCA, and started off the season with a 3-2-1 record in its first six contests of the year, including a win and a tie against Keane, the team that eliminated Cortland in the NCAA regional last year. 
 
The Red Dragons suffered their toughest weekend of the year with a 1-3 record in doubleheaders against #4/5 Johns Hopkins and NYU, but rebounded with a 3-1 weekend and a win over #22/4 Belhaven in Georgia in the final weekend before the start of SUNYAC play. 
 
Cortland won its first 12 games in league play with series sweeps over New Paltz, Fredonia, Canton, and Plattsburgh, and added a 2-1 record in three games against Oswego and a 1-0 record in just one contest against Oneonta to finish conference play. Cortland also added a doubleheader sweep over RPI in its final non-conference action of the regular season and is ranked 30th nationally heading into the conference tournament.  

As a team, Cortland leads the SUNYAC with a .351 batting average, a .473 on-base percentage, and averages 9.5 runs scored per game. The Red Dragons' team batting average is sixth in the nation, while its on-base percentage is fourth in the country. Cortland has also scored 10 or more runs in 18 games so far.    
 
Cortland has three individuals batting over .400 on the year, who are also the top three in the SUNYAC for the year. Talon Elkins is leading the team and the conference with a .440 batting average, while Anthony Carlo is second with a .420 batting average, and Tristan Gatchalian is batting .414 for third place on the team and in the conference. The trio, in addition to Lucas Granger, all have on-base percentages over .500 for the year. 
 
The Cortland starting rotation is led by Ryan McLaughlin and Warren Miller. Miller has started a team-best 10 games, pitching to a 3.25 ERA and leads the team with 60 strikeouts over 44.1 innings McLaughlin has a 3.31 ERA in 32.2 innings, striking out 34 batters, and his seven wins are the most in the SUNYAC. 
 
TOUGH OUT… Talon Elkins ranks as the toughest batter in the SUNYAC to strike out, and is fifth nationally. The sophomore has been retired via the "K" just three times this season in 109 at bats, and average of 38.3 at bats per strikeout. Elkins has also reached base via 13 walks and was hit by four pitches. 
 
BRINGING THE BOOM… Nolan Smith (Hamburg) is sporting a .649 slugging percentage and Nicholas Plue (Schenectady/Guilderland) has a .533 slugging percentage for the year. Five of Plue's 13 hits have been for extra bases, with three homers and two doubles, while Smith has 18-of-35 hits for extra bases, with 13 doubles and five homers. 
 
MAKING PLAYS… Cortland has the best team fielding percentage in the conference, and second-best in the country, at .983. The Red Dragons have just 20 errors in 1,158 chances, while Tristan Gatchalian, Lucas Granger, Joe Yovino (Levittown/Division Avenue), and Anthony Carlo have each handled at least 50 chances without an error. 
 
NOW WALK IT OUT… Lucas Granger had worked 36 walks this season, the most by a Red Dragon in a single season since 2000, when Mike LaPointe drew 40 walks. The school record for walks in a season is held by LaPointe, with 55 in the 1999 season. 
 
SUNYAC WEEKLY WINNERS… Cortland has claimed SUNYAC weekly awards 10 times this season from seven different players. Ryan McLaughlin was twice selected as the conference's Pitcher of the Week, while Anthony Carlo and Talon Elkins were both named Player of the Week two times each. Dan Collins (Poughkeepsie/Spackenkill) and Connor Durkin (Poughkeepsie/Roy C. Ketcham) were named Pitcher of the Week once each, and Tristan Gatchalian and Danny Jackson were each selected as the SUNYAC Athlete of the Week once.  
 
ON ONEONTA… Oneonta enters the conference tournament with a 19-17 overall record, including a 7-9 mark in league play, but suffered losses in four of its final six conference games. 
 
The theme of Oneonta's offense is speed, as the Red Dragons lead the conference with 92 stolen bases and nine triples. Individually, Joseph Monserrat has 36 stolen bases in 37 attempts, as his 36 steals lead the conference and are seventh in the country. Shockingly, Monserrat does not have a triple on the year, as Ryan Cronin, Edem Okpattah, and Nick Jacoby each have two triples. 
 
Zachary Rowe and Brendan Duffy each are batting .333 on the season to lead Oneonta, while Duffy leads the team with five home runs, 10 doubles, 30 RBI, and 35 runs scored. 
 
Oneonta has two of the top three pitchers in the conference in ERA on the season. Aiden Chartrand is leading the conference with a 2.36 ERA over 42.0 innings with 27 strikeouts, while Jake Quigley, one of the SUNYAC All-Tournament Team selections last season, is third in the SUNYAC with a 2.79 ERA, striking out 49 batters in 51.2 innings. 
 
The Oneonta defense has also turned 31 double plays on the year to lead the SUNYAC, with an average of 0.86 double plays per game that ranks 38th in the country. 

SCHEDULES/RESULTS (click team to access online schedules)…

CORTLAND RED DRAGONS: 25-8-1 (15-1 SUNYAC) 
 
ONEONTA RED DRAGONS: 19-17 (7-9 SUNYAC)