Cortland Baseball Blanks Earlham at NCAA Regional, 2-0, Behind Casey Two-Hit Shutout
Courtesy of Cortland Sports Information Department
WASHINGTON, PA. - Sophomore Jake Casey (Homer) threw a two-hit shutout with 12 strikeouts and only one walk as Cortland defeated Earlham College, 5-0, at the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional.
Cortland (35-8) won for the second straight day and is now 2-1 at the double-elimination regional. The Red Dragons will play Sunday versus either Wooster or DePauw at a time to be announced. That game was originally scheduled for Saturday night, but was pushed back to Sunday's opener due to a postponed game in the regional Friday.
Casey, now 4-0 on the season, allowed only four baserunners in his 130-pitch gem. The Quakers (30-14) managed only infield singles by Brennan Laird in the first and Matt Barger in the seventh, along with a Laird walk in the seventh. Eric Elkus reached on an error in the second.
Cortland scored twice in each of the first two innings to take a 4-0 lead. After a double play erased a leadoff runner, the Red Dragons strung together four hits for two runs in the first. Justin Teague (North Syracuse/Cicero-North Syracuse) singled to center and Jack Massa (Shoreham/Shoreham-Wading River) singled through the right side. Matthew Personius (Binghamton/Chenango Valley) followed with a single that dropped into center field to drive home Teague, and Patrick Schetter's (Beacon) single to left brought home Massa.
In the second, Paul Dondero (East Islip) and Marcos Perivolaris (Mattituck) led off with singles. After a forceout at third for the first out, Figueroa reached on an error that allowed Perivolaris to score, and Tyler Phillips (Hancock) beat out a potential double play fielder's choice to short to drive home Colin BeVard (Syracuse/West Genesee).
Casey picked off Laird after his single in the first, and the Quakers stranded Elkus at second base in teh second. Casey retired 15 straight batters from the second through sixth innings before Earlham threatened in the seventh. Barger singled and went to second on a balk, and Laird walked to put runners on first and second. The runners moved up on a double steal, still with no outs, but Casey fanned the next hitter. Figueroa then made a great diving catch at third base on a line drive down the line for the second out, and a groundout to short ended the inning. Casey put down the final six hitters he faced to complete the shutout.
Cortland added its final run in the bottom of the seventh. Figueroa reached on an infield single and took second on the play on a throwing error. Phillips bunted him to third, and Teague hit a sac fly to center to score the run.
Figueroa and Dondero each finished 2-for-4, while Phillips, Teague and Personius each went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Eight of Cortland's starters recorded at least one hit as part of a 10-hit attack. Earlham starter Walter Talcott allowed five runs, two earned, over six and a third innings. He struck out four and walked one. Spencer Owen retired all five batters he faced in relief.
