GREENSBORO, N.C. – The nationally 10th-ranked Cortland baseball team earned two wins over top-20 teams, defeated 20th-ranked Christopher Newport, 5-4, and sixth-ranked and defending NCAA Division III champion Lynchburg, 5-4 in 10 innings, at the D3 Showcase at First National Bank Field in Greensboro.
 
Cortland is 3-0 at the tournament, all against ranked teams. The Red Dragons (3-3) will wrap up the weekend with a game versus 16th-ranked Denison Sunday at 11 a.m.
 
Cortland 5, Christopher Newport 4
 
Cortland led 4-1 before the Captains (6-2) tied the game on Doc Daniels' three-run homer in the top of the eighth. In the bottom of the inning, however, Dylan Mackenzie (Canandaigua/Canandaigua Academy) led off with a single and pinch runner Luke Schartner (Bayport/Bayport-Blue Point) stole second. Nolan Smith (Hamburg) walked, Schartner tagged to third on a flyout and Jon Munoz (Yorktown Heights/Yorktown) singled through the left side to drive in what held up as the winning run.
 
Cortland scored in the second when an error after a JJ DeLawder (Hyde Park/Franklin D. Roosevelt) hit allowed Adam Mieczkowski (Vestal) to score from first base. The Red Dragons added a run in the fourth on Nick Marola's (Saratoga/Scotia-Glenville) bases-loaded walk. CNU scored in the fifth on a Zach Dzarnowski RBI groundout, but Cortland put up two in the bottom of the fifth on a Mackenzie two-run single.
 
Luis Misla (Tampa, FL/Riverview) started for Cortland and struck out 11 batters in four and a third innings, including four in the first inning due to a wild pitch that allowed the third strikeout victim to reach. He gave up one run on two hits with three walks. Cam Darrow (South Glens Falls), Cortland's second reliever, entered in the eighth following the Daniels homer. He retired all five batters he faced, two by strikeout, to earn the win. CNU starter Jack Braley gave up two runs, one earned, on three hits and four walks over four innings. Danny Checkosky took the loss out of the bullpen.
 
Mackenzie finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and Chris Bonacci (Syracuse/West Genesee) went 2-for-3 as Cortland finished with nine hits.

Cortland 5, Lynchburg 4
 
Cortland led 4-0 after six innings against the 2023 national champs, but the Hornets rallied for a run in the seventh and three runs, two unearned, to tie it in the eighth. In the bottom of the 10th, Mat Bruno (Rye) led off with a single and went to second on a one-out passed ball. With two outs, pinch hitter Mieczkowski was intentionally walked. Bruno and Mieczkowski executed a double steal to put runners on second and third, and a wild pitch during ball four to Zachary Kringdon (Larchmont/Mamaroneck) sent home Bruno with the game-winning run.
 
Mackenzie blasted a two-run homer to left to give Cortland a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Mitchell Kelly (Webster/Webster Thomas) led off with a double and scored on Marola's two-out single in the fourth to make it 3-0, and Kringdon singled with one out and eventually scored on a Marola groundout in the sixth to push the lead to four.
 
Lynchburg (4-2) got on the board in the seventh on a Gavin Collins RBI fielder's choice. In the eighth, Eric Hiett drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk to draw the Hornets to within 4-2, and a dropped fly ball allowed the tying runs to score. Greg Mays (Troy/Tamarac), who entered to start the eighth inning, got out of a second-and-third jam at that point with a strikeout. He didn't allow a runner to reach scoring position in the ninth or 10th innings and earned the victory, finishing with three runs allowed, one earned, on four hits with five strikeouts and two walks in three innings.
 
Will McCarthy (Farmingdale) went the first seven innings for the Red Dragons and gave up only one run on three hits. He struck out five and didn't walk anyone. Lynchburg starter Josh Gjormand gave up three runs on seven hits in four innings and Logan Tapman allowed one run on three hits in four frames. O'Kelly McWilliams entered in the ninth and suffered the loss.
 
Mackenzie, Kringdon and Schartner each finished 2-for-4 for the Red Dragons. McWilliams, who started the game in center field, was 2-for-5 for the Hornets.