ONEONTA, N.Y. - Tanner Whiteman (Cazenovia) threw seven shutout innings to improve to 6-0 on the season as Cortland defeated Oneonta, 11-2, in SUNYAC action. Cortland, ranked third nationally in Division III, improved to 28-5 overall and 11-4 in the conference.
The game was played at Damaschke Field in the city of Oneonta, which is serving this year as Oneonta's home field due to a construction project on the Red Dragons' campus.
Whiteman allowed only four hits and one walk and struck out seven batters. Adam Brant (Hyde Park/Our Lady of Lourdes) gave up two unearned runs in the eighth and Jason Martin (Turin/South Lewis) pitched a scoreless ninth.
Cortland took a 2-0 lead in the second on a Nick Hart (Fredonia) sacrifice fly and a Conrad Ziemendorf (Penfield/Webster Schroeder) RBI fielder's choice. Connor Griffin's (Cortland) sac fly in the third increased the lead to 3-0.
The game remained at 3-0 until the top of the seventh. Cortland used a Ziemendorf walk and steal, a Fabio Ricci (Hawthorne/Westlake) hit-by-pitch and a Sean Getman (Oneonta) sac bunt to put runners on second and third with one out. Steven Figueroa (Bronx/St. Raymond's) singled to left to drive in Ziemendorf, and Ricci scored on a passed ball to give Cortland a 5-0 lead.
The Red Dragons tripled three times in a six-run eighth inning to break the game open. Griffin scored from third base on a throwing error as Paul Dondero (East Islip) stole second. Ziemendorf and Ricci followed with consecutive RBI triples and Getman singled in a run. After a Marcos Perivolaris (Mattituck) single, pinch hitter Matt Personius (Binghamton/Chenango Valley) hit a two-run triple to close Cortland's scoring.
Oneonta broke up the Cortland shutout bid in the bottom of the eighth. Sam Beaulac led off with a double and went to third on a groundout. Following a walk and a groundout, Brandon Torres reached on an error that allowed Beaulac to score, and pinch hitter Ryan Fay singled to drive in Oneonta's second run.
Cortland finished with 11 hits despite only one player, Ricci, recording more than one. Ricci went 2-for-5 with a hit-by-pitch, RBI and two runs, and he has now reached base safely (via hit, walk or HBP) in 22 straight games, the longest streak by a Cortland player this season. Ziemendorf was 1-for-3 with two walks, two RBI and two runs and extended his on-base streak to 20 games, the third-best on the team (Hart had a 21-game streak end two weeks ago).
Beaulac finished 2-for-4 for the host Red Dragons. Takoda Sitar started for Oneonta but was pulled three batters into the second inning and took the loss. Six Oneonta relievers allowed a combined nine runs in eight innings.
Cortland will conclude its SUNYAC regular-season schedule with three games at league leader and currently eighth-ranked Oswego (23-3, 10-2 SUNYAC) this weekend. The teams will play a single game Friday at 3 p.m. and a doubleheader Saturday at noon.