CORTLAND, N.Y. – Cortland held on after a furious Fredonia rally over the final three innings and the Red Dragons defeated the visiting Blue Devils, 14-10, in the opener of a three-game SUNYAC series at Wallace Field. Cortland won its 12th straight game to improve to 17-7 overall and 7-0 in the league. 
 
The series was originally scheduled to be held at Fredonia but was moved to Cortland due to field conditions, and as a result Fredonia batted last. The teams will play a doubleheader at Cortland Saturday at noon. 
 
Cortland led 10-0 entering the bottom of the sixth before Fredonia scored three times. The Red Dragons scored four runs in the top of the seventh to take a 14-3 lead and was one out away from winning by the SUNYAC's 10-run rule before Chet Palmer hit a two-run single. Fredonia then scored a run in the eighth on Tyler Curtis' solo homer to make it 14-6 and scored four times in the bottom of the ninth on a Curtis two-run triple and RBI singles by Jake Wentland and Riley Cardinali. The Blue Devils had the bases loaded and the potential tying run at the plate before Jordan Maher flied out to deep center field to end the game. 
 
Dylan Beers (Woodbury/Monroe-Woodbury) improved to 4-1 with the victory. He allowed two hits, two walks and two runs and struck out eight in five and two thirds innings. Tommy Lynch (West Seneca/Canisius), Cortland's sixth reliever, entered to face Maher and earned his third save of the spring. 
 
Cortland's offense registered 12 hits, walked 12 times and was hit by pitches three times, and the Red Dragons stole 12 bases - the most steals in a game for Cortland since a 13-steal effort versus SUNY Institute of Technology in 2004. The hosts, however, left 16 runners on base. Andrew Michalski (Buffalo/St. Francis) was 2-for-4 with a walk, steal and RBI and Chris Bonacci (Syracuse/West Genesee) was 1-for-3 with two walks, three steals, an RBI and two runs. Hunter Holliday (Camden) and Nick Chemotti (Warners/West Genesee) each homered. Holliday finished 2-for-3 with a homer, double, walk, steal, RBI and two runs. 
 
Matthew Krafft (Cornwall) was 2-for-6 with a double and two RBI and Mitchell Kelly (Webster/Webster Thomas) drove in two runs. Mat Bruno (Rye) stole four bases and Jon Munoz (Yorktown Heights/Yorktown) had two steals. Dylan Tierney (East Greenbush/Columbia) walked twice, drive in a run and scored twice. 
 
Curtis was a single shy of hitting for the cycle for Fredonia (4-12, 0-4 SUNYAC), finishing 3-for-5 with a homer, triple, double, five RBI and two runs. Palmer, Wentland, Cardinali, Maher, Brady Ventura and Mathew Wojcik each finished with two hits. Sixteen of the Blue Devils' 17 hits came over the final four innings. 
 
Chemotti hit a two-run homer in the first and the Red Dragons added two in the second on an error and a wild pitch. A three-run fifth included Tierney sac fly, a Bonacci RBI single, and a steal of home by Michalski as part of a first-and-third double steal. Holliday homered to lead off the sixth, followed later by a Kelly sac fly and a Krafft RBI double, to push the lead to 10-0. Fredonia scored three in the bottom of the sixth on a Kyle Tedford RBI double and Curtis two-run double, but Cortland answered with four in the top of the seventh with a Munoz steal of home on a double steal and RBI singles from Kelly, Krafft and Michalski. 
 
Fredonia starter Derrick Walters gave up four runs, two earned, in three innings. He allowed only one hit but he walked five batters.