Durant earned the victory after allowing six hits, one walk and two runs in six innings. He struck out five batters. Funk earned the save after closing the game with three hitless innings with three strikeouts. The only runner he allowed was on a one-out walk in the bottom of the ninth, but that runner was caught stealing and a flyout ended the game.

 

Brad Sawyer was 1-for-3 with a double, walk and RBI for the Blazers, who were playing their season opener. Jordan Patterson started and gave up four runs on seven hits and one walk with five strikeouts in five innings.

 

Cortland scored all of its runs in the first three innings. Giordano hit a two-out solo homer in the first to give the Red Dragons a 1-0 lead. In the third, Andrew Michalski (Buffalo/St. Francis) hit a one-out double, Antonio Pragana (Hopewell Junction/John Jay) walked and Matt Krafft (Cornwall) hit an RBI double to right center. Giordano followed with an RBI single to center and Colin BeVard (Syracuse/West Genesee) drove in Cortland's final run with a sacrifice fly to center.

 

Hood scored in the fourth on Sawyer's one-out RBI double that scored Daniel Shepherd, who led off with a walk and stole second. In the fifth, James DeProspero was hit by a pitch, stole second, moved to third on a Nick Rampone infield single and scored on a double play grounder. Hood got a runner to third base with two outs in the sixth before Durant induced a flyout.

 

Cortland out-hit Hood, 10-3. In addition to Giordano's three hits, Joe Tardif (Cutchogue/Mattituck) was 2-for-2, Krafft finished 1-for-3 with a double, and Danny Coleman (Saratoga Springs) hit a pinch-hit triple with two outs in the eighth.

 

Cortland will face 13th-ranked Salisbury University in non-league games Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at noon.