Cortland Rallies in Ninth to Beat Rutgers-Camden and Remain Unbeaten

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AUBURNDALE, FLA. – Cortland scored seven times in the top of the ninth after entering the inning trailing 6-4 and the nationally third-ranked Red Dragons remained unbeaten with an 11-6 win over Rutgers-Camden at the Lake Myrtle Sports Complex.

Cortland (10-0) came from behind to win in its final at-bat for the second time in as many days. The Red Dragons scored twice in the bottom of the seventh Sunday to beat Endicott, 2-1, in the first game of a doubleheader. Cortland continues its Florida trip Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. versus Eastern Connecticut State at Pat Thomas Stadium in Leesburg.

Cortland started its winning rally when Mark DeMilio (Valhalla) led off the ninth with a solo homer. Conrad Ziemendorf (Penfield/Webster Schroeder) and Matthew Michalski (Buffalo/St. Francis) each drew walks and Donny Castaldo (Mount Kisco/Fox Lane) bunted the runners to second and third.

Fabio Ricci (Hawthorne/Westlake) was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and pinch hitter Adam Smith (Vestal) singled to drive home the tying run. An Anthony Simon (Suffern/Don Bosco Prep (NJ)) groundout plated the go-ahead run, and the Red Dragons added insurance runs with a Sean Getman (Oneonta) two-run single, an Austin Clock (Niskayuna) RBI triple and a DeMilio RBI single.

Jesse Winters (Saratoga Springs/Saratoga Catholic Central) earned the victory after turning in three and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief. He gave up five hits and one walk and struck out three. Starter Nick Di Benedetto (Nanuet) allowed four runs on four hits with three walks and five strikeouts in four innings.

DeMilio, who entered as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning, finished 2-for-2 with three RBI. Matt Personius (Binghamton/Chenango Valley) was 2-for-3 with two RBI, and Ricci went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs and reached base four times.

For Rutgers-Camden (2-1), Joe Brooks finished 3-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Bobby Romano went 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBI, Connor Hall was 2-for-4 with a walk and Doug Carter concluded the day 2-for-5. Starter Pedro Perez permitted eight hits and four runs over five and a third innings. He struck out four and walked three. John Griffin entered in the sixth and retired the first eight batters he faced before Cortland mounted its rally in the ninth.

Cortland led 2-0 in the first on a Ricci bases-loaded walk and a Personius sacrifice fly. The Red Dragons' lead was 3-1 in the third after Ricci tripled and scored on a Personius single, but the Raptors grabbed the lead with three runs in the fourth on a Tim Holder RBI single and a Romano two-run double, both with two outs.

Cortland tied the game in the top of the sixth when DeMilio pinch hit and was hit by a pitch with the bases full. Rutgers-Camden responded in the bottom of the inning with back-to-back RBI singles from Perez and Brooks to take the 6-4 lead that it held until the ninth.