ROME, N.Y. - Austin Clock's (Niskayuna) three-run triple highlighted Cortland's five-run seventh inning that broke a 3-3 tie and the nationally top-ranked Red Dragons held on to defeat Hamilton College, 9-6, under the lights at DeLutis Field.
Cortland improved to 32-5 with the victory. The Red Dragons will close out the regular season with three home games - Thursday versus Cazenovia at 3:30 p.m., Saturday versus St. Lawrence at 3:30 p.m., and Sunday against Stevens Institute of Technology at 1 p.m.
Freshman Kashaun Curry (Middletown) earned the win in relief with three and two thirds innings of two-hit ball. Now 4-0, Curry allowed one walk and one run and struck out four. Jesse Winters (South Glens Falls/Saratoga Central Catholic) was also solid out of the bullpen with two scoreless innings after entering to start the seventh. He gave up two hits and fanned two batters.
Cortland's seventh-inning outpouring started with a one-out single by Conner Manderson (New Hartford). Paul Dondero (East Islip) followed by hitting a ball back to the pitcher, but the throw to second was high and everyone was safe. After a wild pitch pushed the runners to second and third, Nick Hart (Fredonia) walked to load the bases and Fabio Ricci (Hawthorne/Westlake) drove in a run with a grounder to second that was misplayed. With two outs, Clock cleared the bases with his three-run triple to left center, and Connor Griffin (Cortland) closed the rally with an RBI single to right. All five of the runs in the inning were unearned.
The Red Dragons extended their lead to 9-3 in the eighth on a Hart sacrifice fly, Cortland's third of the game. Hamilton, however, made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth. The Continentals opened the frame with consecutive singles by Jordan Northrup and pinch hitters Craig Sandford and Ian Nish. Another pinch hitter, Cooper Halpern, hit a ball to the left-center gap that appeared to be going for extra bases, but Hart in center made a diving catch to limit the play to a sac fly.
Patrick Healy (Massapequa) entered at that point in relief of Adam Brant (Hyde Park/Our Lady of Lourdes). David Rose doubled down the left field line to drive in a run, and Griffin Small's infield single plated another run to cut the Cortland lead to 9-6. Healy, however, got the next batter to hit into a game-ending 6-4-3 double play - the Red Dragons' third twin killing of the evening.
Cortland led 1-0 on a Conrad Ziemendorf (Penfield/Webster Schroeder) sac fly in the first, but Hamilton put up two runs in the bottom of the inning on RBI singles by Chris Collins and Rose. The Red Dragons tied it on a Dan Schweitzer (Poughquag/Arlington) RBI double in the second. Hamilton regained the lead on Brett Mele's RBI single in the fourth, but in the next half inning Cortland tied it again on a Ricci sac fly.
Jason Martin (Turin/South Lewis) started for Cortland and allowed two runs in two and a third innings despite giving up eight hits and a walk. He struck out two. Manderson finished 2-for-3, Schweitzer went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI, and Ricci drove in two runs. Clock was 1-for-2 with a triple, walk, hit-by-pitch and three RBI, while Hart drove in a run and scored twice.
Hamilton (14-12), which entered the week ranked 13th nationally in team batting average (.339) in Division III, lost despite outhitting Cortland 17-9. Collins ended the game 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Zack Becker went 2-for-3, Mele was 2-for-4, and Northrup and Rose each were 2-for-5. Hamilton used seven pitchers, with Brett Sandford taking the loss after pitching the sixth and seventh innings.