SALISBURY, MD. – Tyler Kensey (Syracuse/West Genesee) induced a double play grounder to escape a jam in the bottom of the ninth and Antonio Pragana (Hopewell Junction/John Jay) singled home what proved to be the game-winning run in the top of the 10th inning as nationally second-ranked Cortland outlasted top-ranked Salisbury, 10-9.
 
Cortland improved to 3-0 with the victory, including a pair of wins over the host and defending Division III national champion Sea Gulls. The Red Dragons beat Salisbury, 7-3, on Friday. Salisbury fell to 2-3 with the setback.
 
Salisbury trailed 9-6 before rallying for three runs in the ninth. Cameron Hyder led off the inning with a homer to right and Ben Anderson singled. With one out, Patrick Campbell drew a walk, and an error on an ensuing grounder loaded the bases. Kavi Caster followed with a two-run single to right to tie the game and put the potential winning run on third with still one out.
 
Kensey entered at that point and got the next batter to hit into a 4-6-3 double play to push the game to extra innings. In the top of the 10th Ben Rhodes (Amsterdam) was hit by a pitch to start the inning and he moved to second on a wild pitch. Matthew Krafft's (Cornwall) deep flyout to center allowed Rhodes to tag and advance to third, and Pragana singled up the middle through a drawn-in infield to give Cortland the lead.
 
Salisbury threatened in the bottom of the 10th. Stephen Rice hit a one-out double – his third two-bagger of the game – and the Red Dragons intentionally walked Hyder. Kensey, however, induced another double play grounder – this one to third base for a 5-4-3 game-ending twin killing – to earn the victory in his first pitching appearance for the Red Dragons. Kensey saw action in five games last spring as a pinch hitter and infielder.
 
Cortland took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a Scott Giordano (Croton-on-Hudson/Croton-Harmon) RBI single and a throwing error on a ball hit to short by Mat Bruno (Rye). That score stood until the Sea Gulls tied the game in the bottom of the fifth on an Anderson two-run single.
 
The Red Dragons responded with a run in the top of the sixth on a Danny Coleman (Saratoga Springs) RBI single, and Cortland pushed its lead to 7-2 in the seventh on a James Varian (Hopewell Junction/Trinity-Pawling) double, a Rhodes RBI single and, later in the inning, a Coleman three-run double to left.
 
Salisbury scored in the seventh on a Hyder RBI single, but a strikeout-caught stealing double play prevented further damage. Krafft's RBI single in the eighth made it 8-3, but the hosts tallied three runs in the eighth on a Dom Frigiola RBI double, Sky Rahill RBI single and Rice RBI double. Rice, however was thrown out trying to stretch the double into a triple to end the inning. Cortland scored what proved to be a valuable insurance run in the top of the ninth on a Paul Franzese (Somers) RBI single up the middle.
 
The teams combined for 30 hits – 18 by Salisbury and 12 for Cortland. Coleman finished 2-for-4 with a double and four RBI, Rhodes was 2-for-4 with an RBI and three runs, Bruno ended 2-for-4 with a walk, and Pragana was 2-for-5 with an RBI and run for Cortland.
 
Rice reached base in all six of his plate appearances with three doubles, a single and two hit-by-pitches for Salisbury. He drove in a run and scored twice. Frigiola was 3-for-6 with a double, RBI and two runs, Hyder finished 2-for-4 with a homer, walk and two RBI, Patrick Campbell was 2-for-4, Caster and Anderson each went 2-for5, and Rahill was 2-for-6.
 
Zack Durant (Verona/V-V-S) started for Cortland and pitched three scoreless innings. He allowed four hits and one walk and struck out one. Benji Thalheimer started for Salisbury and went six innings. After allowing the two runs in the first he retired Cortland in order in the second through fifth innings before allowing a run on three hits in the sixth. He was pulled after Varian's leadoff double in the seventh. Brandon Epstein, Salisbury's fourth reliever, took the loss. He entered in the ninth and allowed two hits and he also gave up the go-ahead run in the 10th.