CORTLAND, N.Y. – Senior Anthony Iacomini (South Salem/John Jay-Cross River) drove in four runs, including a three-run homer to break open a tight game in the eighth inning, as nationally sixth-ranked Cortland defeated Brockport, 8-3, in a SUNYAC matchup.
The teams will play a doubleheader in Cortland Sunday at noon. The three-game weekend set was originally scheduled for Brockport but was moved to Cortland due to field conditions. As a result, Brockport is batting last as the "home" team in the games.
Senior Mark Palumbo (Morristown, NJ) pitched six-plus innings for the victory and is 3-0 on the year. He allowed five hits and one walk and struck out five. Palumbo gave up one run over the first six innings before being charged for two runs in the seventh as the two batters he faced reached and eventually scored.
Iacomini finished 2-for-5 with an RBI single in the second and his three-run shot in the eighth that extended a 4-3 lead to 7-3. Sophomore Conrad Ziemendorf (Penfield/Webster Schroeder) was 2-for-3 with two walks, two runs scored and an RBI double and senior Max Rosing (Rockville Centre/South Side) was 2-for-5 with a two-run single.
Also for Cortland (17-4, 6-0 SUNYAC), junior Donny Castaldo (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) finished 2-for-4, senior Tim Panetta (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) drew three walks and junior Vinny Bomasuto (Dunkirk) was 1-for-2 with two walks, two runs and a sacrifice fly. Cortland finished with 11 hits.
Corey Hamula went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI for Brockport (11-6, 3-4 SUNYAC). Brendan Swayne walked twice and Mike Gianni was 1-for-3 with a walk. Matthew Coleman suffered the loss after allowing six hits, three walks and three runs in three innings.
Cortland scored twice in the top of the first on Rosing's two-run single and one in the second on Iacomini's RBI single. In the bottom of third, Shawn Peake and Hamula each singled to lead off the inning for Brockport. They advanced a base on a balk, and Pete Wilson hit a ground ball to third on drive in a run. A fielding error on the play allowed Wilson to reach, and after a wild throw Hamula tried to score but was thrown out at home.
Brockport had threatened in the second when Dan Hurlimann led off with a double and moved to third on a groundout. Swayne then flied out to right, and Castaldo threw out Hurlimann at home trying to tag up to end the inning.
Cortland went up 4-1 in the sixth on Bomasuto's sac fly. In the bottom of the seventh, Hurlimann walked and John Craig singled to end Palumbo's day. A Swayne walk loaded the bases and led to Garrett Hoag (Dansville) to enter as Cortland's second reliever. He induced a flyout with no advancement before giving up a two-run double to Hamula to make it 4-3. Hoag escaped further damage after a lineout and a strikeout.
Iacomini's homer in the eighth was preceded by walks to Ziemendorf and, with two outs, Bomasuto. In the bottom of the eighth, Brockport had runners on first and third with one out when Steven Kimmelman (Riverhead) entered and got a batter to ground into an inning-ending double play. Cortland finished the scoring on a Ziemendorf RBI double in the ninth, and Kimmelman walked one batter before finishing off the inning to earn his first save of the season.