The second-seeded Oswego State baseball team lost a 2-1, 11-inning battle with top-seeded Cortland in its first game on Friday.
In an elimination game with No. 3 New Paltz, the contest was halted due to rain with the Lakers leading 4-0 in the sixth frame. The second-seeded Oswego State baseball team did the improbable by earning three wins on Saturday en route to its second-straight SUNYAC Championship title and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. Oswego finished four-innings of a halted game to beat New Paltz 4-2 before dominating top-seeded and nationally-ranked Cortland 15-2 and 14-4 in back-to-back tilts to capture the league's crown.
Oswego and New Paltz will resume its tilt at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The winner will face Cortland in the championship round immediately following the completion of the halted game and will need to win the tournament's sixth and seventh game for the title. Cortland needs one win on Saturday to claim the championship.
CORTLAND 2, OSWEGO 1 (11 INN):
Cortland benefited from a questionable no-call on what appeared to be a third strike and the Red Dragons knocked a home run on the next pitch to walk-off in the bottom of the 11th. That was the end to an outstanding performance by starting pitcher Robert Donnelly. The senior threw all 10.2 innings, allowing just two runs by scattering six hits on 126 pitches. Of the 126 pitches that Donnelly tossed, 87 went for strikes, a more than 2-to-1 strike to ball ratio.
The Red Dragons struck first in the bottom of the seventh frame. With runners on the corner and nobody out, Donnelly induced a double-play grounder that let in the tilt's first score. Oswego answered right back in the top of the eighth. First baseman Kevin Hylas singled up the middle with one out and then moved to second when Zach Whelan reached on catcher's interference. Brandon Nicholson was able to knock a single over the shortstop's head and into left field, plating Hylas and evening the game at 1-1.
OSWEGO 4, NEW PALTZ 0 (IN PROGRESS):
At 6:19 p.m., heavy thunderstorms moved into the area and halted the game. Oswego holds a 4-0 advantage over No. 3 New Paltz in the top of the sixth inning. The Hawks have a runner on first, two outs and a 3-2 count on their current batter.
Oswego got to the 4-0 margin starting in the bottom of the first. Nicholson scored from third when Myles Kutscher reached on a throwing error by the third baseman. In the third, Mike Dellicarri singled to the pitcher, followed by a double to right field by John Barnes. Eli Holton drove in both teammates with a two-out single through the left side, pushing the Lakers to a 3-0 advantage.
Friday's final run was manufactured almost single-handedly by Hylas. The senior led off the bottom half of the fourth with a single to right field. With two outs, Hylas stole second base and then moved to third on a throwing error by the catcher. On the next pitch, he nabbed home standing up after a wild pitch got to the back stop.
It is the first time that a team other than Cortland has won two-consecutive SUNYAC tournament titles since the 1988 and 1989 Oswego Lakers. The 2018 Lakers made it two-straight on the heels of 29 runs off 35 hits in 18 innings against the Red Dragons.
No. 2 OSWEGO 4, No. 3 NEW PALTZ 2 (RESUMPTION OF FRIDAY'S HALTED GAME):
Entering Saturday with a 4-0 lead over No. 3 New Paltz with a runner on first, two outs and a 3-2 count on a Hawks batter in the top of the sixth after Friday's game was halted due to rain, Coach Scott Landers called Nick Antonello to the mound. The freshman got out of a bases loaded jam in the sixth after a walk and an error. In the seventh, New Paltz scored two runs after a lead-off single, a wild pitch, an RBI double and eventual balk with a runner on third. Antonello then settled into the flow, downing the Hawks in order in the final two frames to earn his first-career save.
Brian Nolan earned the win with his 5.2 innings thrown on Friday. The junior did not allow a run while scattering five hits and fanning five Hawk hitters.
Kevin Hylas led the Lakers at the dish, going 2-for-2 with a run scored. Eli Holton had two RBI on his single through the left side while Brandon Nicholson, Mike Dellicarri and John Barnes each had a hit and a run scored. Closing out the Lakers's hits was Ryan Enos with a full-count single in the first inning.
No. 2 OSWEGO 15, No. 1 CORTLAND 2:
Heading into a game the Lakers needed to win to force a winner-take-all game seven, Oswego was 0-3 against Cortland with two extra-inning games and a deficit of just four. The Lakers bucked the trend by smoking 15 hits en route to 15 runs in a dominating 15-2 victory.
Despite an impressive offensive showing, the pitching staff and defense would not be overshadowed. The Lakers defense committed no errors behind a win for Matt Bowman. The junior tossed five strong innings, spreading around five hits and surrendering two runs to improve to 3-3 on the season. In relief of the starter, Brad Wroblewski, Nathan Boughton and Patrick Gosney combined for four scoreless, one-hit innings. Wroblewski tossed the sixth and seventh while Boughton and Gosney closed the final two innings, respectively.
Zach Whelan started the Laker outburst in the top of the second inning with the game tied at 1-1. With two runners on the base paths and two outs, Whelan smacked a homer over the left-field fence to give Oswego a lead it would never relinquish. The Cortland, N.Y. native picked his hometown as the perfect time to mash his first-career home run over his four-year career. He went on to collect a game- and career-high five RBI with two runs scored in a 3-for-4 performance.
Also finishing with a multiple-hit outings were Myles Kutscher (3), Barnes (2) and Hylas (2). Hylas drove in three runs and scored once, Barnes crossed the plate twice and pushed another Laker across while Kutscher had three runs and two RBI.
By the late innings, neither team had any members of its starting nine still in the contest. In two at-bats, Rocco Leone picked up a hit while Josh Hoagland went 1-for-1 with a run scored and an RBI.
No. 2 OSWEGO 14, No. 1 CORTLAND 4:
Nick Demarco threw seven innings of impeccable baseball, allowing just three hits and two runs while striking out five to stay a perfect 3-0 on the year. His outing included 4.1 innings of no-hit baseball. In fact, the Lakers posted six runs on 11 hits before Cortland recorded its first hit against DeMarco.
Eight Lakers had multiple-hit outings to slay the Red Dragons. Whelan, Hylas and Holton each had three hits while Enos, Nicholson, Barnes, Kutscher and Lukas Olsson all had two hits apiece. Holton had four RBI, including a three-run homer in the ninth to change the momentum back to Oswego after a four-run eighth for Cortland. Olsson and Nicholson both had three RBI while Hylas drove in two.
Mike Abrams closed out the final 1.2 innings, surrendering no runs on no hits and walking just one.
At the conclusion of the championship, the following were named to the All-Tournament Team:
Kevin Hylas (Oswego) – Most Valuable Player
Reston Pettit (Oswego)
Zach Whelan (Oswego)
Myles Kutcher (Oswego)
Matt Bowman (Oswego)
Nick Demarco (Oswego)
Christian Dufresne (Cortland)
Mike Harrington (Cortland)
Joe Tardif (Cortland)
Alex Brown (Brockport)
Conor Donachie (New Paltz)
Oswego now awaits its NCAA tournament placement when the selection is announced on NCAA.com at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, May 13.
