CORTLAND, N.Y. – The second-seeded Oswego State baseball team completed a perfect 3-0 run through the SUNYAC Championship with a win over top-seeded Cortland for its third-straight tournament title. With the victory, Oswego earns the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Championship, which will be the Lakers' fifth-straight appearance in the national tournament.
THE BASICS
- Result: Oswego 11, Cortland 7
- Location: Wallace Field – Cortland, N.Y.
- Records: Oswego 29-12 | Cortland 31-11-1
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Trailing Cortland 4-2 in the top of the sixth, Oswego changed its fortunes for good. Nick Chilson singled to center to lead off the inning but the Lakers' next two batters went down on a fly out and strikeout. With second baseman Rocco Leone facing a 2-2 count, the junior doubled down the left-field line to plate Chilson and cut the deficit to just one at 4-3.
- Freshman Paul Tammaro came to the plate and on a 1-1 count, notched his first-career home run over the left-field fence to give Oswego a 5-4 advantage, a lead it would never relinquish.
- Oswego added four runs of insurance in the eighth. With Leone on second, Tammaro on first and two outs, Enos tried to call a timeout on a 2-2 count. The umpire did not grant the timeout but the sophomore did not need it, driving the pitch out of the park down the left-field line to make it a 8-4 Laker lead.
- In the next at-bat, Dellicarri singled to third after a throwing error allowed him to advance. Lukas Olsson capitalized on the Cortland miscue, doubling to left center on a full count to push Dellicarri across for a 9-4 margin.
- The Red Dragons chased starting pitcher Brian Nolan from the game in the bottom of the eighth and recorded a three-run homer to narrow the advantage to 9-7.
- Oswego recovered two runs in the ninth with some small ball as a Chilson lead-off walk produced a run after a Casey Gruarin sacrifice bunt, a Ryan Weiss single and a Leone sacrifice fly. Two batters later, Enos singled to center on a 1-2 count to score Weiss from second for Oswego's final run.
- Matt Bowman – who relieved Mike Di Salvo with two outs in the eighth – completed the save with a tailor-made 6-4-3 double play following a lead-off single and a fly out to end the game.
- Nolan was economical throughout the contest, throwing just 94 pitches into the eighth inning. The senior earned the victory in his start, improving to 6-1. He fanned seven Cortland batters and surrendered six runs on six hits.
ALL-CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
- Ryan Enos (MVP) – Oswego
- Lukas Olsson – Oswego
- Brian Nolan – Oswego
- Nick DeMarco – Oswego
- Kieran Finnegan – Oswego
- Matt Valin – Cortland
- Chris Puzakulics – Cortland
- Colin BeVard – Cortland
- Dominic LaMonica – Oneonta
- Robert Ottaviano – Oneonta
- Sam Cestra – Fredonia
WHAT'S NEXT
Oswego awaits its NCAA Championship placement which will be released during a selection show on NCAA.com at 12 p.m. on Monday, May 13.
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