Cortland Holds on for 7-6 win over Eastern Connecticut
AUBURN, NY – Co-host and top-seeded SUNY Cortland overcame a 2-1 deficit through three innings with a four-run, three-hit fourth inning, keyed by run scoring hits in succession with two-out from junior first baseman Matt June (Colonie, NY) and sophomores Zack Graczyk (Carmel, NY), and John Adornetto (Commack, NY), while the defense had to fend out a ferocious mid-game rally on the strength of the opening five batters in the lineup of fifth-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University en route to a 7-6 victory in the 2011 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship Auburn Regional at Falcon Park.
The game was a completion of a suspended game from Thursday, May 19. originally scheduled as the third of a four-game schedule , the contest made it through seven and a third innings before being delayed with one out due to scattered thundershowers in the area, then was suspended nearly an hour later when the rain got heavier.
Because of the weather suspension, today’s games will begin 30 minutes after the final out of the previous game, with every attempt made to play five games to keep up with the tournament schedule (weather permitting. Today’s forecast calls for a 50-percent chance of scattered showers).
The Red Dragons (35-8) will take on the victor of the second winners bracket game between Farmingdale State College and Keystone College, originally scheduled to be yesterday’s final contest, in the first full game of the day. The Warriors (33-12) will face Clarkson University (NY) in an elimination game, the second game of the day, later in the afternoon.
Cortland hitters reached the plate 44 times, going 10-for-33 (.303 batting average) with seven runs batted in. Graczyk , who played right field, and senior designated hitter Kris Gentzke (Clarence Center, NY/Clarence) each batted 3-for-4 with a pair of stolen bases, while shortstop Adornetto (triple) and June (stolen base) each hit 1-for-4 with two runs batted in.
Eastern Connecticut State registered a game-high 13 hits thanks to the strength of its first five batters in the lineup, which combined to score four of the team’s six runs and post a .458 batting average, going 11-for-24. Senior outfielder Shane Kingsley (Beacon Falls, CT/Woodland Regional), the leadoff hitter, led all batters for the game by going 4-for-5 with a run scored.
Senior leftfielder Robert Perry (Manchester, CT) and senior designated hitter Jim Schult (Wappingers Falls, NY/John Jay Sr.), the second and third hitters in the lineup, each went 2-for-5 with an RBI, followed by senior rightfielder/third baseman Tyler Turgeon (Norwich, CT/St. Bernard) going 1-for-5 with a run scored and senior first baseman Andrew Dewing (Swampscott, MA) batting 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
Cortland used four pitchers, with sophomore lefthander John Molloy (Franklin Square, NY/Carey) picking up the win in relief. Coming in for junior starter Aaron Schultd (Liverpool, NY), Molloy faced 13 batters in pitching two and a third innings, allowing three hits, three walks and a run (unearned, not charged to him) while striking out a batter.
Schuldt faced 23 batters in tossing four innings, yielding eight hits, five runs and three walks while striking out five. Junior Brendan Hourihan (Yorktown Heights/Lakeland) pitched the next two-third innings after Molloy’s appearance, striking out a batter, while senior Michael Mahay (Whitesboro, NY) threw the final two innings in earning the save, yielding two hits with two strikeouts (all coming in the bottom of the ninth) and retiring the final batter of the game with the tying run at third base.
June kicked off the fourth-inning scoring charge with an RBI single to second base, scoring Gentzke from third. After a stolen base by June, Graczyk singled to shortstop to bring in catcher Justin Fredenburg from third before Adornetto tripled down the right field line to score both Graczyk and June, chasing Eastern Connecticut State junior starter Jim Dimon (Seymour, CT/St. Joseph) out of the game after three and two-third innings.
Dimon faced 21 batters in his appearance on the mound, giving up five hits, five runs (four earned) and four walks while striking out three. He was one of five pitchers used.
The Warriors added an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead to within two runs, but Cortland scored twice in the top of the fifth to take its biggest lead of the game at 7-3, with Gentzke belting a two-run homer down the left field line with one out.
Eastern Connecticut State’s biggest inning came in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a three-run, three-hit effort, cutting the Cortland lead to within a run (7-6). Shortstop Danny O’Connell drove in the first run of the inning on a sacrifice fly before the Warriors added the next two runs on a wild pitch and an infield throwing error.
SUNY Cortland 010 420 000 – 7 10 2
Eastern Connecticut St. 002 130 000 – 6 13 1
E – Wild, Mistretta, O’Connell, Cannata; DP – Cortland 1; LOB – Cortland 10, Eastern Conn. St. 14; 2B – Graczyk, Dewing; 3B – Adornetto; HR – Gentzke; HBP – Thode, Kingsley; SH – Wild, Mistretta 2, Cannata; SF – June, O’Connell; SB – June, Graczyk 2, Gentzke 2, Mistretta.
W – Molloy (2-0); L – Dimon (5-2); SV – Mahay (1); WP – Molloy; HBP – by Purnell (Thode), by Hourihan (Kingsley); PB – Fredenburg.
Time – 3:17; Att. – 200.
Schuldt faced two batters in the fifth inning.
