CORTLAND, N.Y. - Nick Hart's (Fredonia) sacrifice fly broke a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the fifth inning and Cortland never trailed again as the nationally third-ranked Red Dragons edged The University of Rochester, 7-5, in a non-league contest.
Cortland improved to 23-5 with the win and will play Thursday at Ithaca. The Red Dragons have announced a schedule change for this weekend - their home game Friday versus Plattsburgh has been moved to Sunday at 11 a.m., with the teams still playing a doubleheader Saturday at noon in Cortland.
Freshman Kashaun Curry (Middletown) earned the win as the first of four Cortland relievers versus the Yellowjackets. He entered with a runner on first and no outs in the top of the fifth and allowed only one hit in two scoreless innings. He struck out one and walked none. Curry was the pitcher of record when the Red Dragons took the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth and is now 2-0 on the season.
Tanner Whiteman (Cazenovia) started and allowed three hits, three walks and three runs in four-plus innings. He struck out three batters. Adam Brant (Hyde Park/Our Lady of Lourdes) was the last of Cortland's four relievers and earned his third save of the season. He entered the ninth with a 7-4 lead and allowed one run on two hits and a walk.
Connor Griffin (Cortland) led the Red Dragons' 13-hit attack by going 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI. Fabio Ricci (Hawthorne/Westlake) went 2-for-3 with a walk, RBI and run scored and Paul Dondero (East Islip) was 2-for-5 with a triple and two runs scored.
Luke Meyerson started for Rochester (10-10) and allowed three runs on four hits in four innings. He struck out one and walked two. Steve Eychner finished 2-for-4 with three RBI and Matt Todd was 2-for-3 with a double, walk and two runs scored.
Rochester took a 2-0 lead without the benefit of a hit in the top of the first. Todd and Pete Carrier each walked and moved up on a balk. Eychner drove in a run with a sac fly and, after another balk, Aiden Finch grounded out to drive home Carrier.
Cortland answered with three runs in the bottom of the first. Dondero hit a one-out triple and scored on an Austin Clock (Niskayuna) groundout. After a Ricci walk, a Hart hit-by-pitch and a Patrick Schetter (Beacon) infield single loaded the bases, Griffin singled to center to plate two runs.
Rochester knotted the game in the fourth on singles by Jake Meyerson and Ryan Spurr and a wild pitch. Cortland grabbed the lead back in the fifth on singles by Clock and Ricci and Hart's sac fly. The Red Dragons added two runs in the sixth on a Conrad Ziemendorf (Penfield/Webster Schroeder) RBI double and a Ricci RBI single. The inning was a bizarre one in that all six batters for Cortland in the inning reached via hit or walk, with all three outs in the inning occurring by runners being thrown out at either third or home trying to take an extra base.
Each team scored once in the seventh. Eychner hit a two-out chopper in front of the plate with runners on second and third for an RBI single, but Cortland escaped further damage with a fielder's choice on the next batter. Steven Figueroa (Bronx/St. Raymond's) and Griffin hit back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the seventh to put Cortland up 7-4. Rochester made things interesting with a two-out rally in the top of the ninth. Todd doubled, Carrier walked, and Eycnher singled up the middle to drive home Todd. The next batter hit a fly ball to left that briefly looked like it might go over the head of left fielder Hart, but he recovered to reach up and grab the ball for the final out.