CORTLAND, N.Y. – Senior Aaron Schuldt (Liverpool) struck out seven and gave up two hits and two walks in six and two thirds scoreless innings and senior Matt June (Colonie) became the seventh player in school history to reach the career 200-hit mark as Cortland defeated Fredonia, 14-0, in a SUNYAC contest.
The Red Dragons (20-7-1, 6-2 SUNYAC) are ranked eighth in the latest ABCA Division III poll and 15th by D3baseball.com. Fredonia is now 9-14 overall and 3-5 in the league. The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday in Cortland at noon.
Schuldt improved to 5-1 with the victory. Three Red Dragon relievers pitched the final two and a third innings to complete Cortland's eighth shutout of the season. Freshman Ryan McAlary (Shoreham/Shoreham-Wading River) recorded the final out of the seventh inning. Sophomore Steve Komanecky (Auburn) gave up one hit and struck out two in the eighth and freshman Jesse Montalto (Franklin Square/Carey) allowed a hit and a walk but struck out three batters, the last two with the bases loaded, in the ninth.
June finished the game 2-for-5 to exactly reach the career 200-hit plateau. He was hitless in his first three at-bats, but reached on an infield single in the sixth and lined an RBI single to left center in the seventh.
Junior John Adornetto (Commack) went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and junior Anthony Brevetti (Homer) finished 2-for-2 off the bench. Junior Brian Barry (Smithtown/Smithtown East) hit a two-run homer and was one of four Cortland players, along with junior Michael LaTempa (LaGrangeville/Arlington), sophomore Max Rosing (Rockville Centre/South Side) and junior Kyle Barkley (Penn Yan), to finish the game with two RBI.
Fredonia's Dan Fetes finished 1-for-2 with a double and a walk and Chris Messina went 1-for-2 with a walk.
Sean Larson started for the Blue Devils and allowed only one run over the first four innings before giving up four runs, one earned, in the fifth. He gave up three hits and four walks and struck out three in four and a third frames.
LaTempa's infield RBI single gave Cortland a 1-0 lead in the third. The Red Dragons tallied four runs in the fifth to extend the lead to 5-0. Junior Andrew Pezzuto (Hastings) tripled with one out, Adornetto was hit by a pitch and LaTempa hit a fielder's choice to second to drive in Pezzuto. Fredonia committed three of its five errors in the inning that led to three unearned runs.
Rosing's two-run single in the sixth put Cortland ahead by seven runs. The Red Dragons' seven-run seventh inning featured June's RBI single, a James Quinn (Guilderland) bases-loaded walk, a Mathew Wild (Auburn) RBI groundout, a Barkley two-run single and Barry's two-run homer.
Trailing 1-0 in the top of the fourth, Fredonia threatened when Fetes doubled with one out and stole third. Schuldt, however, struck out the next two hitters.