Cortland Routs Husson, Escapes Past Middlebury, to Advance to NCAA Baseball Regional Final Day
Cortland Sports Information Department
UNION, N.J. - The second-seeded Cortland baseball team advanced to the championship round of the Union, N.J., NCAA Division III regional with victories over fourth-seeded Husson, 17-7, and third-seeded Middlebury, 4-3, in elimination games on Saturday.
Cortland (31-12), ranked 19th nationally by D3baseball.com, will face the host school, top-seeded and nationally ninth-ranked Kean, in the regional championship round Sunday at 11 a.m. Cortland needs to beat the Cougars twice on Sunday to win the regional, while Kean needs just one victory to advance to next weekend's NCAA Super Regional.
Cortland reached the 30-win mark for the 20th straight year (not counting the 2020 shortened season) and 30th time in the last 31 complete seasons. The Red Dragons are making their 32nd straight NCAA tournament appearance - a Division III record and the longest active streak among all NCAA levels. Cortland has won at least one game in all 32 of those tournaments.
Cortland 17, Husson 7
Husson scored three times in the top of the first, but Cortland scored the next nine runs to lead 9-3 after six innings. The Eagles (24-16) scored twice in the seventh to close within 9-5, but the Red Dragons plated five runs in the bottom of the seventh, highlighted by a Luke Schartner (Bayport/Bayport-Blue Point) grand slam, to pull away.
Cortland starter Nick Jessen (Syracuse/West Genesee) got knocked out in the first inning, but Dylan Beers (Highland Mills/Monroe-Woodbury) went the next three and a third innings and allowed two hits and no walks with six strikeouts while not allowing any runs. He earned the win to improve to 5-0 as Cortland took the lead for good while he was the pitcher of record.
Zack Zarrilli (Farmingdale) gave up two runs and struck out five batters in two and two thirds innings and Dan Collins (Poughkeepsie/Spackenkill) fanned four batters and allowed two runs in two and a third innings as Cortland pitchers combined for 16 strikeouts.
Cortland finished with 19 hits, led by Lucas Granger (Horseheads) who went 4-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. Nolan Smith (Hamburg) finished 3-for-5 with a double and two runs, Schartner finished 2-for-3 with a homer, four RBI and two runs, Dylan Tierney (East Greenbush/Columbia) went 2-for-3 with a walk, two RBI and a run, and Zachary Kringdon (Larchmont/Mamaroneck) was 2-for-4 with a double, hit by pitch, RBI and run. Talon Elkins (Syracuse/West Genesee) singled, walked twice, drove in a run and scored twice.
Connor Abood started for Husson (24-16) and allowed seven runs in two and two thirds innings. Ryne Rametta finished 3-for-4 with two RBI and Curtis Jackson homered for the Eagles.
Husson's three runs in the first came via a Tanner Evans bases-loaded walk and a Rametta two-run single. Cortland knotted the game in the second on Adam Mieczkowski's (Vestal) RBI single and Granger's two-run single. Tierney and Granger singled in runs and Elkins and Chris Bonacci (Syracuse/West Genesee) each walked with the bases loaded to give Cortland a 7-3 lead in the third. Tierney's RBI single in the fourth and Kringdon's run-scoring double in the fifth pushed the lead to 9-3.
Curtis hit a two-run homer in the seventh to bring Husson with four, but Schartner's grand slam and a JJ DeLawder (Hyde Park/Franklin D. Roosevelt) sac fly brought home Cortland's five runs in the bottom of the inning. Husson's final runs came by a Ryan Bousquet two-run single in the eighth. Connor Lynch (Wappingers Falls/Roy C. Ketcham) hit an RBI single and Zach Taro (Binghamton/Susquehanna Valley) doubled in two runs to close the scoring in the bottom of the eighth.
Cortland 4, Middlebury 3
Cortland found a way to defeat Middlebury and avenge a loss to the Panthers from the previous night despite recording just two hits and four walks.
Elkins led off the bottom of the first with a single to the hole at shortstop to extend his hitting streak to 25 games. Bonacci was hit by a pitch, and Kringdon bunted the runners to second and third. Schartner hit a sac fly to right to drive in a run, and Mieczkowski reached on a throwing error to allow a run to score and give Cortland a 2-0 lead.
Middlebury got a run back on Owen Fox's solo homer in the third, and the Panthers took a 3-2 lead in the sixth on a Kyle McCausland one-out double, a Nathan Samii intentional walk, and two-out RBI singles from Brayden Matthews and Will Ashley. A flyout ended the inning with runners on first and third.
In the bottom of the sixth, Bonacci was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Kringdon hit a shot down the first base line - Middlebury's first baseman made a quick stab to retire Kringdon, but then threw wildly to second trying to get Bonacci, allowing him to advance to third. Schartner then struck out on a pitch in the dirt, and when Middlebury's catcher threw to first to retire Schartner trying to advance, Bonacci raced home and beat the return throw to tie the game.
Cortland's go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth also came through a bizarre scenario. Bonacci was hit by a pitch with one out and stole second. With two outs, Schartner hit a high pop up right over the pitcher's head. Middlebury was not able to catch the ball, which hit directly on the mound and officially was credited as a single. Bonacci came around from second and barely slid in under the tag after a flip to home to give Cortland the lead.
Matthew Nochowitz (Glen Head/North Shore) started and gave up three runs on seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts over six and two thirds innings. Nick Hanson (Ladera Ranch, CA/Aliso Niguel) entered with two outs in the top of the seventh and runners on first and second and struck out a batter to end the threat and keep the game tied 3-3. Hanson earned the win, allowing no hits and two walks and striking out five over the last two and a third innings. He struck out a batter to end the inning with a runner on third in the eighth and induced a flyout with a runner on second in the ninth to end the game.
Charlie Kutz started for Middlebury (28-13) and allowed three runs, one earned, with just one hit allowed in five and two thirds innings. He fanned five and walked three. Kunal Handa took the loss despite not allowing any hits and walking one in two innings.
