APPLETON, Wisc. – Frostburg State's impressive and record-setting 2015 season came to a close Monday night in the semifinals of the NCAA Baseball Championship.
 
The second-ranked Bobcats endured a 17-4 loss to top-ranked SUNY Cortland in an elimination game at Fox Cities Stadium.
 
Frostburg caps its season with a 43-9 overall record and was one of the final four teams left standing in all of NCAA Division III baseball.
 
"I'm very, very, very proud of my ball club," said head coach Guy Robertson. "To do what these guys have done this year and the season that we have had its almost unthinkable. We won every step of the way and these guys deserve to be here. I hope they are proud of what they accomplished because I sure am."
 
FSU set a school record in wins this season, captured both the Capital Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles, won the NCAA Mideast Regional Championship and set the CAC record for wins in a season. Frostburg ascended to No. 2 in both the D3baseball.com and ABCA Coaches Poll, its highest ever ranking and made the program's first appearance in the World Series.
 
"This is a great accomplishment for the program, for our guys, for our administration and all the people who spend a whole lot of time trying to help us out and trying to make sure that we can reach our potential," added Robertson.
 
Against Cortland, Frostburg jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the third frame. Senior Lane Farmer led off with a single through the left side. Sophomore J.T Tipton walked followed by a senior Ricky Castro infield single to load the bases.
 
Senior Zach Weiss then came through with a single through the left side that scored both Farmer and Tipton. Senior Nick Walker made it 3-0 with a single to right field that allowed Castro to cross the plate.
 
However, Cortland (43-4) rallied with 11 runs in the fifth inning and two more in the sixth for a 13-3 advantage. The Red Dragons tacked on four more in the ninth inning for the 17-3 lead.
 
Walker capped the game's scoring in the bottom of the ninth inning for Frostburg. He walked to lead off the inning, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored when senior Lane Farmer drilled a pitch off the center field fence.
 
With the final over Frostburg, the Red Dragons advance to the championship round and will face the winner of Wisconsin-Lacrosse and Trinity (Texas) for the national title.
 
"Now the real hard work begins, trying to figure out how we get back here," said Robertson. "From here on out, that's always going to be the goal."
 
Weiss finished with two RBI, Castro was 3-for-4 with a run scored and Farmer was 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored. On the mound, sophomore starter Ryan Callahan endured the loss. Despite holding Cortland to just one hit over the first four innings with a pair of strikeouts, Callahan allowed five earned runs in the fifth inning on three hits as Cortland began its rally.
 
"We believed all year long and even coming into this game we believed we could get back tomorrow (with a win)," noted Robertson. "Hats off to them. I'm just proud of my guys and it's time to reflect on a great year. I'm happy for the seniors for the year they had."
 
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Ricky Castro … On his hit in third inning
"I was just looking for a good pitch to hit. I got a strike quick and I kept battling and battling until I got the hit."
 
Nick Walker … On the dugout atmosphere after Frostburg took the early lead
"Everybody's morale was pretty high. As soon as we scored the first run, everybody knew that we had a good chance to win this ballgame. When we get ahead, we usually are able to finish, just today they got the best of us in that one inning and it was tough to come back from that."