Cortland Takes Early Lead En Route to 9-4 Win Over Brockport
AUBURN, NY – Sophomore third baseman Bryan Mistretta (Commack, NY) batted 4-for-4 with two runs batted in and two runs scored, while sophomore starting pitcher Scott Hartling (Pleasant Valley, NY/Arlington) struck out 10 batters in seven and a third innings as top seed and co-host SUNY Cortland pounded out 15 hits on its way to a 9-4 win over fourth-seeded The College at Brockport in an elimination game at the 2011 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship Auburn Regional at Falcon Park.
The Red Dragons (36-9), the defending regional champion, advance to today’s 5:00 p.m. championship round against third-seeded Keystone College (PA), needing a victory to extend the tournament into a one-game winner take all matchup on Sunday, May 21 at 1:00 p.m. A Keystone win will advance the Giants into the eight-team NCAA Division III World Series, which takes place in Appleton, WI on May 27-31.
The Golden Eagles, the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) runner-up playing in their third NCAA tournament, finish their season with a 30-14 record.
Four players recorded multiple hits for Cortland, who never trailed throughout the contest, jumping out to a 4-0 lead through two innings and adding a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning for a 6-0 advantage before Brockport got on the board with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Mistretta registered an RBI and scored in the three-run second inning, scored again in the eighth when Zach Graczyk belted a two-run single, and drove in the final run of the game in the ninth on a one-out single to left center.
Senior first baseman Alex Coffey (Hilton, NY) hit 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI and a run scored, while sophomore shortstop John Adornetto (Commack, NY) went 2-for-3 with an RBI and sophomore centerfielder Matt Wild (Auburn, NY) hit 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
Hartling (5-0) faced 33 batters on the mound, yielding nine hits and four runs, with only one earned. Junior Brendan Hourihan (Yorktown Heights, NY/Lakeland) encountered five batters in throwing the final inning and two thirds, limiting Brockport to a hit while striking out two.
Sophomore second baseman Jake Coleman (Hilton, NY) and senior catcher Mike Goldstein (Slingerlands, NY/Guilderland) were the lone players with multiple hits for the Golden Eagles. Coleman batted 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI, while Goldstein finished 2-for-4 with a run scored. Junior lefthander Mark Ciccotti (Breesport, NY/Horseheads) picked up the loss, pitching four and a third innings in giving up 10 hits and six runs (four earned) while striking out three batters.
SUNY Cortland 130 020 021 – 9 15 2
The College at Brockport 000 030 010 – 4 10 4
E – June, Mistretta, Keado, Weakley, Goldstein, Ciccotti. DP – Brockport 1; LOB – Cortland 10, Brockport 8; HBP – Adornetto, Zimmerman, McCormick; SH – June, Wild, Gentzke, Coffey; SF – Graczyk, McCormick; SB – Coleman; CS Coffey; Reached on CI – Graczyk..
W – Hartling (5-0); L – Ciccotti (2-4); WP – Hartling, Hourihan, Tilley 2; HBP – by Hartling (Zimmerman, McCormick), by Tilley (Adornetto); CI – Goldstein.
Time – 2:48; Att. – 325.
