SUNY Cortland Athletics

2010 NCAA DIVISION III CHAMPIONSHIP – AUBURN (NY) REGIONALat Falcon Park

Game 13: #2 St. John Fisher College 6, #3 SUNY Oneonta 5 (11 innings)

AUBURN, NY – Trailing by a run going into the bottom of the eleventh inning, junior right fielder Phil Pettinella (BATAVIA, NY/Batavia) belted a game tying home run to left field with one out and senior shortstop Kevin Wing (WEBSTER, NY/Webster Schroeder) hit a single to centerfield to score sophomore left fielder Matt Klock (GRAND ISLAND/Grand Island) from second base with the game winner as second-seeded St. John Fisher College defeated third-seeded SUNY Oneonta, 6-5 to move into the championship round of the 2010 NCAA Division III Championship Auburn (NY) Regional at Falcon Park.

The Cardinals (31-13), who extend their season school record for wins, will face top-seeded SUNY Cortland at 5 p.m. A win by Fisher will force a deciding game on Sunday, May 23 at 1 p.m., while a Cortland win will secure a berth in the NCAA Division III Championship in Appleton, WI on May 28-June 1.

Oneonta, who came into the contest winning three games in the loser’s bracket after losing in the opening round, ends the year at 31-13, tying a school record for most wins in a season.

Both teams combined for 28 hits, with eight coming for extra bases (five doubles, triple, two home runs). Fisher held a 4-2 lead through three innings before Oneonta tied the score with a pair of runs in the seventh thanks to a two-out, two-run homer by senior first baseman Dan Randall (SALEM, NY/Salem) over the left-field wall.

After both teams went scoreless through the final two innings, the game went into extra innings. In the tenth, Oneonta had runners at the corners on back-to back singles from sophomore left fielder Michael Center (SCHENECTADY, NY/Schenectady) and senior shortstop Scott Dubben (ROSEBOOM, NY/Cherry Valley Springfield) before popping out behind the plate and hitting into a double play, when Pettinella caught a fly ball on the run and threw home to junior catcher Leo Fusilli,(PENFIELD, NY/Penfield), throwing out Center.

Fisher could only muster a hit in their half of the inning to go to the eleventh, where the Red Dragons took only their second lead of the game when senior centerfielder Carmine Caputo (MAHOPAC, NY/Mahopac) singled up the middle with one out to score sophomore Ivan Plata (SCHENECTADY, NY/Schenectady) from second base. Plata came in as a pinch runner for junior Pete Linder (VOORHEESVILLE, NY/Voorheesville), who got on base on an infield single as a pinch hitter.

Oneonta brought in junior reliever Anthony Bates (UTICA, NY/Thomas R. Proctor) to open the bottom of the inning and retired the leadoff batter before giving up the homer to right field by Phil Pettinella to tie the score. Bates struck out the next batter before hitting Klock, who stole second base before scoring on the double by Wing, who finished batting 2-for-6 with a run and a run batted in. Bates pitched two-thirds inning in getting the loss (4-6).

Three other players tallied multiple hits for the Cardinals, who totaled 13 hits. Fusilli and sophomore third baseman Teagen Barresi (LANSING, NY/Lansing) each went 2-for-5 with a run scored, with Barresi driving in a pair of runs, while Freshman second baseman Ben Bostick (ROCHESTER, NY/Aquinas Institute) batted 2-for-5. Freshman reliever Aaron Benton (GOWANDA, NY/Gowanda) was one of three pitchers used by Fisher, facing four batters while yielding a hit in two-thirds inning to improve to 3-0.

Sophomore second baseman Kevin Knack (GHENT, NY/Ichabod Crane) and Dubben were two of four players with multiple hits for Oneonta, who collected a game-high 15 hits. Knack finished 3-for-6 with a run scored, while Dubben batted 3-for-5. Caputo, who scored the game’s first run from third base as part of a double-steal, hit 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored, and junior right fielder Jonathan Wolfanger (ONEONTA, NY/Oneonta) finished 2-for-3.