WINTER HAVEN, FLA. – Cortland rallied from an 11-4 deficit after four innings to take a 22-14 lead, then held off a late Rutgers-Camden comeback over the last two innings to defeat the Raptors, 22-20, at the Chain O' Lakes Baseball Complex.
Cortland, ranked first nationally, improved to 12-0 on the season and has won 21 straight games dating back to last year. The 20 runs scored by Rutgers-Camden are the most allowed by Cortland in a winning effort since at least 1982, and possibly the entire modern era of the sport. The most recent high came in an 18-17 win over Viterbo in 1994.
Rutgers-Camden suffered its first loss of the season and is now 4-1. The Raptors previously defeated second-ranked Wisconsin-La Crosse just prior to Cortland's victory over the Eagles on Sunday.
Each team finished with 20 hits. Austin Clock (Niskayuna) and Steven Figueroa (Bronx/St. Raymond's) each totaled four hits for the Red Dragons. Clock was 4-for-5 with a homer, walk, three RBI and four runs scored. Figueroa went 4-for-7 with a triple three RBI and two runs.
Junior Nick Hart (Fredonia) hit his first two collegiate homers and ended 2-for-6 with a walk, five RBI and two runs. Dan Schweitzer (Poughquag/Arlington) was 3-for-6 with double, two RBI and two runs and Connor Manderson (New Hartford) finished 2-for-4 with a triple, two walks, four RBI and two runs.
Two other Red Dragons finished with multiple hits. Marcos Perivolaris (Mattituck) came off the bench and went 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs, and Fabio Ricci (Hawthorne/Westlake) was 2-for-4 with a walk, hit-by-pitch and three RBI. Conrad Ziemenrdorf (Penfield/Webster Schroeder) reached base three times with a hit and two walks and Matt Personius (Binghamton/Chenango Valley) walked twice, drove in two runs and scored twice.
For Rutgers-Camden, Doug Carter Jr. ended 3-for-3 with a triple, double and RBI. Brent Tenuto was 4-for-5 with a double, walk, three RBI and three runs and Chris Jones finished 3-for-5 with a double, walk, five RBI and three runs. Andujar Cedeno was 2-for-5 with a homer, walk, two RBI and three runs, and Joe Brooks reached five times with a 2-for-4 effort, two walks and a hit-by-pitch. He scored four times.
Tyler Brien (Ilion) turned in the best pitching performance of any of the combined 11 hurlers from the two teams. He entered with two outs in the fifth and allowed only two hits and no runs with no walks and two strikeouts in two and a third innings. He was Cortland's pitcher when the Red Dragons took the lead for good in the top of the sixth and earned the victory in his first appearance of the season.
Cortland led 4-2 in the top of the third, but Camden scored four in the bottom of that inning and five in the fourth to take an 11-4 lead. The Red Dragons responded quickly and decisively with six runs in the fifth and eight in the sixth, sandwiched around three Camden runs in the bottom of the fifth, to go up 18-14.
Cortland tacked on two runs in both the seventh and eighth innings and went into the bottom of the eighth leading 22-14. The Raptors plated five runs in the eighth on a Jones 3-run double and Cedeno's two-run homer, and entered the ninth down only 22-19.
After Cortland failed to score in the top of the ninth, Camden opened the bottom of the inning with a double, a groundout, a walk and an RBI infield single. A Jon Theckston sac bunt moved the potential tying runs into scoring position with two outs. Cortland elected to intentionally walk Brooks to load the bases, setting up force outs at every base but also putting the potential winning run on base. Mike Mills, who had entered the game during the eighth inning, got the next batter to ground out to second to end the game.
Cortland will face Endicott College on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. in Auburndale.