MOUNT BERRY, GA. – Zack Durant (Verona/V-V-S) allowed one run over seven innings and four Cortland players recorded multiple-hit games as the nationally 16th-ranked Red Dragons defeated Marietta College, 8-2, during the first day of the Berry College Tournament.
Cortland (7-4-1) will face Adrian College on Saturday at 4 p.m. during the second day of the three-day event. Marietta dropped to 4-5 with the loss, with four of its five setbacks this spring coming versus ranked opponents. The Pioneers will play Berry Saturday at 1 p.m.
Durant improved to 2-2 on the season after giving up just five hits and two walks and striking out two batters. Dan Hobbs (Saratoga Springs) allowed a run over the final two innings in a non-save situation.
Brian Corporan (Bronx/H.S. for Environmental Studies) finished 4-for-5 with two RBI, Colin BeVard (Syracuse/West Genesee) went 3-for-4 with a triple, double, walk and two RBI, Dan Schweitzer (Poughquag/Arlington) was 3-for-5 with three runs scored and Wyatt Myers (Chittenango) finished 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI to account for 12 of Cortland's 14 hits.
Dalton Wiggins started for Marietta and allowed five runs, but only one earned, over seven innings. He gave up 10 hits and two walks and struck out five. Drew Holderbach ended 2-for-4 and Damian Yenzi went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI.
Cortland capitalized on two Marietta errors in a four-run top of the third to take a 4-0 lead. After a one-out error, Schweitzer singled and Corporan hit an RBI single through the right side. A flyout created the second out, and a grounder to short that could have ended the inning was misplayed to allow a run to score. BeVard followed with a two-run double down the right field line.
Marietta picked up a run in the fifth on a Holderbach two-out single and Yenzi's run-scoring double. Cortland tallied once in the seventh on a Myers two-out RBI double and padded its lead with three runs in the top of the eighth. With two outs, Scott Giordano (Croton-on-Hudson/Croton-Harmon) walked and stole second, moved to third on a Schweitzer single and scored on an error on a pickoff throw. Corporan and Myers provided the other two runs with back-to-back RBI singles.
The Pioneers mounted a threat in the bottom of the eighth. With one out and a runner on first, Logan Vietmeier singled and Jonathan Pingree hit an RBI single to right. Greg Peffley walked to load the bases, but Hobbs fanned the next batter to escape any major damage.