CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Cortland baseball team advanced to the SUNYAC Championship series after defeating Oneonta, 10-4, in the decisive game of the conference semifinal best-of-three series. Oneonta forced that game after winning 10-7 in Saturday's opening game.
Cortland (27-9-1), ranked 25th nationally by D3baseball.com, will host the winner of the New Paltz-Oswego semifinal series next Friday and Saturday. Oswego currently leads that series 1-0 after defeating the Hawks in Game 1 Saturday.
Oneonta 10, Cortland 7 (SUNYAC Semifinals Game 2)
Oneonta used a late rally to earn the win in Game 2 of the series, scoring four times in the top of the ninth to break a 6-6 tie.
The game featured momentum swings throughout the contest. After two scoreless innings, Oneonta struck first in the top of the third. Following an error that extended the inning, Zachary Rowe delivered an RBI single, and Ryan Cronin followed with a two-run double to give the visitors a 3-0 lead. Cortland answered immediately in the bottom half of the third with a four-run inning.
Danny Jackson (Lagrangeville/Arlington) led off with a solo home run to right field to get Cortland on the board.
Trey McGowan (Blue Point/Bayport-Blue Point) doubled,
Lucas Granger (Horseheads) singled and
Talon Elkins (Syracuse/West Genesee) drove in a run with a single.
Tristan Gatchalian (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) then gave Cortland the lead with a two-run homer to left center, capping the rally and putting the Red Dragons ahead 4-3.
The score remained unchanged until the fifth inning when Oneonta regained the lead. A combination of hits and hit batters loaded the bases before Alex Halwick singled home a run, and Nick Jacoby was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in another run, making it 5-4. Cortland responded again in the sixth.
Logan Karwowski (Clay/Cicero-North Syracuse) led off the inning with a home run to right center to tie the game at 5-5. Later in the frame, Jackson singled and eventually scored when Elkins reached on a fielding error, giving Cortland a 6-5 advantage.
Oneonta evened the score at 6-6 in the seventh on a solo home run by Zachary Rowe. The game remained deadlocked through the eighth. In the top of the ninth, Oneonta opened with Sean Clinton being hit by a pitch and Joseph Monserrat reaching on a bunt single. Rowe bunted the runners up, Brendan Duffy was intentionally walked and Cronin delivered a two-run single to give Oneonta an 8-6 lead. Halwick followed with a two-run, extending the margin to 10-6.
Cortland attempted to rally in the bottom of the ninth.
Nicholas Plue (Schenectady/Guilderland) singled and advanced into scoring position on an error, and
Anthony Carlo (North Bellmore/St. Anthony's) singled to put runners on the corners. Karwowski drove in a run with a groundout to make it 10-7, but the Red Dragons were unable to get any closer.
Cortland finished with 17 hits in the loss. Jackson led the offense with a 4-for-4 performance, while Gatchalian and Granger each collected three hits and McGowan added two hits.
Offensively for Oneonta, Halwick led the way going 3-for-4 with three RBI's. Rowe also went 3-for-4 and had two RBI's and Cronin went 2-for-3 with two walks and four RBI's.
Jake Quigley started for Oneonta and allowed four runs over four and a third innings. Martin Thorsland followed and surrendered two runs (one earned) in one and a third innings. Lukas Jachens earned the win in relief, tossing three and a third innings and allowing just one unearned run.
Cortland used four pitchers, with
Warren Miller (Plattsburgh) starting and allowing three unearned runs in two and two third innings.
Xander Payne (Medina) and
Connor Durkin (Poughkeepsie/Roy C. Ketcham) combined for one and two third scoreless innings before
Joe Yovino (Levittown/Division Avenue) took the loss, giving up five runs over the final four and two third innings.
Cortland 10, Oneonta 4 (SUNYAC Semifinals Game 3)
The Red Dragons struck immediately in the first inning when Elkins singled and Gatchalian followed with a two-run home run to left field for a 2-0 lead. Oneonta answered with two runs in the second on RBI singles by Gavin Carlucci and Clinton to tie the game, but Cortland regained control in the fifth. After Granger walked and moved into scoring position with a steal, Gatchalian delivered again with his second two-run homer of the game, this time to left center, giving Cortland a 4-2 advantage.
The visitors tied the game at 4-4 in the sixth on a two-run homer by Duffy, but Cortland responded quickly in the bottom half of the inning. Karwowski worked a walk and was replaced by a pinch runner in
Carter Corbett (Skaneateles/St. Paul's (NH)), who moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Jackson. After a walk by
Nolan Smith (Hamburg), a groundout moved the runners to second and third and McGowan came through with a clutch triple to left field, driving in two runs and putting Cortland back on top, 6-4.
Cortland added critical insurance runs in the eighth inning. Jackson drew a leadoff walk and
Jack McFerran (Selkirk/Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk) followed with a one-out walk to put two runners on. McGowan then singled to load the bases, and Elkins worked a walk to force in a run and make it 7-4. Gatchalian broke the game open with a three-run double to left center, clearing the bases and extending the lead to 10-4.
Gatchalian finished with a dominant performance, going 4-for-5 with two home runs, a double, and seven RBI's - the most by a Cortland player this season. McGowan was 2-for-5 with his two-run triple.
Elkins contributed both at the plate and on the mound. At the plate he registered a hit, walk, RBI and two runs scored. He also was Cortland's starting pitcher and allowed four runs over five innings before handing the ball to
Aaron Knuutila (Lockport), who earned the win with two and a third scoreless innings in relief.
Tommy Lynch (West Seneca/Canisius) closed out the game with one and two-thirds innings of shutout work for his third save of the season.
Matt Neglia took the loss for Oneonta, surrendering six runs over five and two-third innings. Clinton and Halwick each finished 2-for-4. Each team finished with nine hits.
