PITTSFORD, N.Y. – Cortland committed three errors and allowed four unearned runs as the Red Dragons lost at St. John Fisher College, 4-3, in a non-league contest. Cortland, ranked sixth nationally by the ABCA and 17th by D3baseball.com, drops to 17-7-1, while the Cardinals improve to 15-4.
Justin D'Amato improved to 5-0 for Fisher with the victory. He gave up five hits and two runs in eight innings with eight strikeouts and four walks. Cortland senior Aaron Schuldt (Liverpool) suffered his first loss in five decisions this spring despite giving up only four hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out four batters, and all three run he permitted were unearned.
Cortland trailed 3-0 entering the seventh inning but twice rallied to within a run. The Red Dragons scored in the seventh when P.J. Rinaldi (Bethel, CT) led off with a single and eventually scored on a Bryan Mistretta (Commack) groundout. In the eighth, John Adornetto (Commack) walked with one out and scored on a two-out Rinaldi RBI double to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Fisher, however, picked up a crucial insurance run in the bottom of the eighth. Peter Krysztof led off with an infield single and was bunted to second by Ben Bostick. A wild pitch moved Krysztof to third and he scored on a two-out passed ball on a strikeout that would have ended the inning.
In the ninth, pinch hitter Chris Jackson (Wappingers Falls/Roy C. Ketcham) led off with a single off reliever Tim Sylvester. Michael LaTempa (LaGrangeville/Arlington) and Matt June (Colonie) each singled with one out to load the bases, but Sylvester struck out the next batter for the second out. Adornetto drew a walk to force in a run and bring Cortland within 4-3, but a flyout ended the game and gave Sylvester his first save of the season.
Fisher took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second with the help of two Cortland errors. Nicholas Flemister reached on a one-out error and went to third on a Ben Ward single. Ward stole second, and Brad Rush followed with a groundout to short to drive in Flemister. On the play, a throwing error after the out allowed Ward to score.
In the bottom of the fifth, Chris Roeder got to first on a one-out error and advanced to second and third on a pair of wild pitches. He scored a batter later on a Krysztof sacrifice fly to center.
Rinaldi finished 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI and Max Rosing (Rockville Centre/South Side) was 2-for-5 with a double for Cortland, which outhit Fisher by an 8-6 margin. Roeder was 2-for-3 and Steve Karnyski went 1-for-3 with a walk for the Cardinals.
Cortland will host St. Joseph's College of Long Island for single, nine-inning games on both Friday at 4 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m.