CORTLAND, N.Y. - Jeff Cooke (Rome/Rome Free Academy) allowed three hits over six scoreless innings as nationally sixth-ranked Cortland defeated Oneonta, 5-0, in the first game of a SUNYAC doubleheader. Cortland (22-5, 7-2 SUNYAC) completed a sweep of the visiting Red Dragons with a 13-1 win behind a 17-hit attack.
Cortland 5, Oneonta 0
Cooke improved to 5-2 with his performance in the seven-inning opener. He struck out four and walked one. Andrew Barnes (Rochester, NH/Spaulding) retired the side in order in the seventh with one strikeout to complete the shutout.
Oneonta starter Nicholas Ponesse matched Cooke through the first four innings before Cortland broke through for four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Ponesse, now 2-1, allowed three hits and two runs over four and two thirds innings. He struck out two and walked two.
Cortland's four-run rally in the fifth started with two outs. Paul Dondero (East Islip) reached on an infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error. Steven Figueroa (Bronx/St. Raymond's) worked the count before eventually being issued an intentional walk, and pinch hitter Justin Teague (North Syracuse/Cicero-North Syracuse) hit an RBI single through the left side to break the scoreless tie. Figueroa eventually scored on a passed ball, Teague scored on a wild pitch, and Jack Massa (Shoreham/Shoreham-Wading River) singled in a run.
The hosts added a run in the sixth when Patrick Schetter (Beacon) led off with a single, stole second, moved to third on a one-out wild pitch and scored on a Matt Michalski (Buffalo/St. Francis) single to right.
Cooke faced only two batters over the minimum as he picked off two runners, and a third was caught stealing. Mickey Mullins finished 1-for-2 with a walk for Oneonta.
Cortland 13, Oneonta 1
Cortland held a 3-1 lead before scoring five times in the sixth. The Red Dragons added a run in the seventh and four in the eighth.
Mike Harrington (Glens Falls) earned the win in relief of Patrick Merryweather (Baldwinsville/C.W. Baker). Harrington, now 4-1, entered with one out in the fourth and a runner on and induced an inning-ending double play grounder. He retired the side in order in the sixth and gave up only a two-out single in the seventh.
Merryweather went four and a third innings and allowed only one hit and one run with five strikeouts, but did walk four batters. Billy Goncalves (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) allowed one hit and fanned one in a scoreless eighth inning, and Jake Casey (Homer) struck out two batters and permitted just one runner on a hit batsman in the ninth.
Figueroa went 2-for-3 with a walk, double, RBI and two runs scored and Dondero finished 2-for-2 with sac fly, RBI and two runs. Teague and Colin BeVard (Syracuse/West Genesee) each went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Oneonta starter Thomas Bond allowed eight runs, five earned, over five and a third innings. He gave up nine hits and two walks and struck out four. Dalton Beatty went 1-for-3 with an RBI and Donald Geloso and LJ Gizzarelli each were 1-for-3 as Oneonta (9-10, 2-6 SUNYAC) was limited to three hits.
BeVard doubled home a run with two outs in the second, but Oneonta tied the game in the fourth on a Beatty two-out RBI single. Dondero's sac fly gave Cortland a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth, and Teague hit an RBI single in the fifth to push the lead to 3-1.
Cortland's five-run sixth featured consecutive RBI singles by Figueroa, Matthew Personius (Binghamton/Chenango Valley) and Massa, with an error and a wild pitch accounting for the other two runs. Ralph Nuzzi (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) hit an RBI single in the seventh, and Cortland's eighth frame was highlighted by a Dom DeMarco (Oneonta) RBI infield single, and RBI singles through the left side by Dan Schweitzer (Poughquag/Arlington) and Marcos Perivolaris (Mattituck).