Joey Palatsky
Oswego State Falls to Cortland in SUNYAC Championship
CORTLAND, N.Y. — In a thrilling three game SUNYAC Baseball Championship Series that featured 11 lead changes between the two teams, the Oswego State Baseball team was defeated by Cortland. Oswego took game one from Cortland in a late comeback fashion, but Cortland won game two in extra innings and game three to take the series. Cortland outscored Oswego 25-23 between the three games, which featured one run wins for each team in games one and two and a two run win for Cortland in the deciding game.
Game one was tied 2-2 after four innings, Kieran Finnegan had some early command issues surrendering four walks which resulted in two runs in the first inning while allowing just one hit in the frame. Finnegan bounced back well, giving up no hits in the next three innings and just one walk. Oswego’s two runs came in the top of the second on a Hunter Holliday RBI double and Julian Drew RBI single. Cortland put up two runs on four hits against Finnegan in the 5th which led to Anthony Van Fossen entering the game for the Lakers. Van Fossen was brilliant out of the bullpen as the junior threw 3.1 hitless innings for the Lakers. SUNYAC RBI leader Kyle Lauria trimmed the deficit to one run with an RBI single in the 7th, and the Lakers kept going with a big two out rally in the 8th. Oswego scored three runs in the 8th as Myles Felton scored on a wild pickoff throw to tie it, Brendon Frank singled in Paul Tammaro, and Ryan Enos followed with an RBI double to score Frank. Mike Di Salvo came in to pitch the 9th but gave up a leadoff home run to make it a one run lead for the Lakers. Di Salvo had the tying run on third base, and the winning run on second with no outs but got back to back flyouts to finish the 7-6 game one Oswego win.
The highest scoring game of the weekend came in an 11-10 extra inning walk off win for Cortland. Game two featured 31 total hits and three home runs for each team, as it was Tammaro, Ryan Weiss, and Felton each hitting long balls for the Lakers. At least one team scored in all ten innings, as Cortland had a four run and multiple three run frames scoring in bunches, but Oswego scored more consistently with one or two runs in seven of the ten innings. Frank and Weiss led Oswego’s offense as both of the seniors contributed four hits apiece. After ten innings and a ton of offense, it was Scott Giordano from Cortland with a walkoff home run forcing a decisive game three the following day.
Oswego and Cortland had identical runs scored in each frame from the 1st to 4th, as the game was tied 5-5 after four innings. Oswego scored one in the top of the 5th but Cortland answered back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the frame that would be the tying and eventual winning run, before tacking on an insurance run in the 6th. Enos was 3-4 with a home run, a double, and 4 RBIs in the final game of the series but it was not enough as Cortland took game three 8-6 to win the SUNYAC Championship.
The season is not over yet for Oswego as the Lakers got an at-large bid into the 48 team NCAA Division III Baseball Championship. There are eight separate locations with six teams at each site; the winning team from each of the eight sites will compete in the Division III World Series in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Oswego was selected to be the second seed at the Hartford, Connecticut Region which is being hosted by Trinity College (Connecticut), a team that Oswego was scheduled to play against earlier this year. The teams in order of seeds 1-6 playing at the Hartford Regional are Southern Maine, Oswego State, Wheaton (Massachusetts), Salve Regina, Husson, Johnson & Wales (Providence). This is Oswego’s sixth consecutive season qualifying for the Championship, and the Lakers are looking for their first World Series appearance since 2018. Games will take place Thursday, May 27th through Sunday, May 30th and Oswego will play their first game at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Image Provided by Alexis Fragapane, Lexi Fragapane Photography
Oswego State Baseball Travels to Cortland for SUNYAC Championship
OSWEGO, N.Y. — Oswego Baseball goes on the road to Cortland for the SUNYAC Baseball Championship on Friday, May 21st at 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., with a game three on Saturday, May 22nd at 12:00 p.m. if necessary. Oswego and Cortland have not played against each other the past two seasons, but the teams are familiar with each other as this will be the fifth straight tournament that the Lakers and Red Dragons meet in the finals. Cortland won the tournament back in 2015 and 2016, but Oswego claimed the crown in 2018 and 2019. Weather cancelled the 2017 tournament resulting in top seeded Oswego to be crowned the champions, and COVID cancelled the 2020 tournament. Oswego will look to claim its 16th overall title and 4th in a row, while Cortland seeks its 35th overall championship.
Friday’s games will also mark the first time there have been fans permitted at a SUNYAC game since March 2020, as SUNY Cortland campus is now open to visitors and New York State has reduced restrictions on social distancing. Fans will only be able to attend if they are on an official list collected by the conference office. Each school was allowed to submit a list of 150 fans, bringing the game total to 300 spectators. Since the attendance is below 500, spectators do not need to provide a negative COVID-19 test or show a vaccination card. Fans are required to adhere to CDC, New York State, and SUNY Cortland COVID-19 guidelines.
#21 Oswego comes in at 23-3 (14-2 SUNYAC) after a 8-2 and 11-4 sweep over Oneonta in Oswego last weekend in the semifinals. Cortland, ranked one spot behind Oswego comes in at #22 nationally with a 25-5 (14-2 SUNYAC) record. Last weekend Cortland also got a semifinal sweep in the form of 11-4 and 3-1 wins over Brockport. There have been eight weeks of the season, which means eight SUNYAC Baseball Athlete of the Week awards, as well as eight SUNYAC Pitcher of the Week awards. Oswego has claimed four of the sixteen awards in the form of three position players and one pitcher, and Cortland has won five awards by four position players and one pitcher.
Oswego takes on Cortland in the SUNYAC Baseball Championship at 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Friday, May 21st at Cortland. If necessary, game three will be played on Saturday, May 22nd at noon. The winner gets an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament which kicks off next week.
Image Provided By William Rogers, WTOP 10 Photography Department
Oswego State Baseball Moves on to SUNYAC Championship Finals
OSWEGO, N.Y. — Oswego State Baseball took on Oneonta in the first round of SUNYAC Baseball Playoffs on Saturday, May 15th and the Lakers swept the two-of-three series by scores of 8-2 and 11-4. With the wins, Oswego punched their ticket to meet the Cortland Red Dragons in the SUNYAC Finals on Friday, May 21st.
It was uncharacteristic of the Lakers to be down 2-0 after six innings in game one, but the Lakers showed they have the grit for a late game comeback after a regular season that was mostly dominant wins. Kieran Finnegan had a tough first inning allowing two runs on four hits, but bounced back in tremendous fashion as his final line read 8 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs and 7 strikeouts. Oswego put up back to back four run frames in the seventh and eighth innings to secure a comeback 8-2 win in game one. Hunter Holliday had the first two RBIs for the Lakers in both innings with a 2 RBI double in the 7th and a 2 RBI single in the 8th in his 4-4 game one. With a 7-2 lead in the 8th, Myles Felton hit a solo home run to cap off the 8-2 victory as the Lakers took game one.
Oswego struck first in game two courtesy of a Brendon Frank home run in the 4th inning but Oneonta answered back with two runs in the top of the 5th to take a 2-1 lead. Oswego had their biggest inning of the day in the form of a six run bottom of the 5th that was highlighted by a Kyle Lauria 3 RBI triple as the Lakers led 7-2 after five innings and would not surrender the lead. Jake Terrill was solid on the mound all day for the Lakers going 5 innings and allowing 5 hits and 2 runs (1 earned).
The two SUNYAC Baseball powerhouses have not played each other this season due to the division format in the conference. Oswego goes on the road to Cortland on Friday, May 21st for a 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. matchup in the SUNYAC Baseball Championship Series as the Lakers look for their fourth consecutive title. If necessary, game three will be played on Sunday, May 22nd at noon.
Image Provided By William Rogers, WTOP 10 Photography Department
Oswego State Baseball Heads into SUNYAC Championship
OSWEGO, N.Y. — SUNYAC Baseball playoffs kick off Saturday, May 15th as Oswego hosts Oneonta and Brockport goes on the road to take on Cortland. Games are scheduled for 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. on Saturday with a if necessary game three slated for 12:00 on Sunday, May 16th.
Cortland comes in as the number one overall seed and ranked 22nd in the country, at 14-2 as the nationally ranked Red Dragons look for their 35th conference championship. Scott Giordano leads the Cortland offense with a .455 batting average, four home runs, and 25 RBIs, the first two stats rank 3rd and the third stat ranks 5th in the SUNYAC. Former SUNYAC Baseball Athlete of the Week Daniel Coleman has four home runs to his name as well to go along with 26 RBIs which is good for 4th in the conference. Cortland also touts the three lowest ERAs in the SUNYAC, Ryan Flansburg leads with a 0.93 ERA in 29 innings, former SUNYAC Pitcher of the Week Zack Durant comes in with a 2.18 ERA in 29 innings, and Brandon Buchan carries a 2.20 ERA in 28.2 innings of work. Cortland met their first round opponent, Brockport back on May 3rd in the regular season. Brockport took game one 9-4 and Cortland took game two 9-1.
Brockport faces Cortland in the first round as the second seed in the West division, as the Golden Eagles have a 12-4 SUNYAC record. Brockport has two hitters in the top five for batting average in the SUNYAC, former SUNYAC Baseball Athlete of the Week Matt O’Dair led all hitters in the regular season with a .478 and Daniel Delgazio is 5th with a .423 average. Brockport has hitters in 1st and 5th in another hitting category, as Tom Kretzler led all hitters with eight home runs, and Jake Sisto had four long balls of his own. On the mound, former SUNYAC Pitcher of the Week Trevor McCarthy is 2nd in the SUNYAC in strikeouts with 37, and Andrew Huffman is 5th in the stat with 33 punchouts. Brockport goes on the road to take on Cortland with the winner in the two of three series advancing to the SUNYAC championship.
Oswego hosts the other first round matchup, as the first seed in the West and 21st nationally ranked Lakers come in with a 14-2 regular season record. Oswego is looking to win their 16th SUNYAC title as well as their fourth consecutive. Paul Tammaro in the leadoff spot has a .444 batting average which is good for 4th in the SUNYAC. The top three RBI leaders in the SUNYAC are also in the Oswego order in the form of Kyle Lauria, Ryan Enos, and Ryan Weiss who have 38, 34, and 31 RBIs apiece. Brendon Frank and Lauria are tied for 1st in the conference in stolen bases with 18 each, and Enos ranks 4th with 12 as all three former SUNYAC Baseball Athlete of the Week winners are threats both at the plate and on the basepaths. On the mound, former SUNYAC Pitcher of the Week Kieran Finnegan ranks 5th in the conference in ERA with a 2.40 in 30 innings of work. Oswego faced first round opponent Oneonta on May 6th in the regular season. Oswego took game one 19-5 and Oneonta won game two 5-2.
Oneonta goes on the road to take on Oswego in the first round as the second seed in the East, the Red Dragons have the only losing record of any of the four playoff teams with their 6-10 SUNYAC record. The biggest strength for Oneonta is their two headed monster on the mound in the form of Michael Losak and Sean Liquori. Losak is 4th in ERA in the SUNYAC with a 2.30 through 27.1 innings, and the duo is 3rd and 4th in strikeouts in the conference with 35 and 34.
SUNYAC Baseball playoffs start Saturday, May 15th at 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. as Cortland hosts Brockport and Oswego hosts Oneonta. If Cortland wins they will host the championship the following weekend, if Cortland loses but Oswego wins then Oswego will host, if both teams lose then Brockport will host the championship. WTOP 10 will continue to follow Oswego State Baseball as the team looks for another conference title.
Image Provided By William Rogers, WTOP 10 Photography Department
Oswego State Baseball Continues Win Streak Against University of Rochester
OSWEGO, N.Y. — Oswego State Baseball extended their win streak to fourteen games with a doubleheader sweep over University of Rochester on Tuesday, April 27th in a non-conference doubleheader. Oswego was dominant all day long as the Laker bats scored 32 runs total on the day, Oswego won game one 23-7 and completed the sweep with a 9-4 victory in game two.
Oswego scored multiple runs in five of eight innings they came to the plate in game one. Ryan Weiss opened up the scoring on a grand slam in the bottom of the first inning, and Connor Stanton added an RBI single to make it 5-0 before Rochester’s fourth batter stepped to the plate. Eleven Laker batters had at least one hit in game one, and Ryan Enos led the offense in hits as he was 3-4 with three runs and three RBIs. Weiss led with four RBIs all of which came on the grand slam, and Enos and Stanton added three RBIs each. Oswego took game one 23-7 as the bats came out hot to knock off the top ranked Liberty League team 23-7.
Game two featured two hit efforts from five separate Lakers, Paul Tammaro, Brendon Frank, Kyle Lauria, Hunter Holliday, and Frank Levanti. Two RBIs apiece were also added by Tammaro, Frank, Lauria and Weiss on his second home run of the day. Jake Terrill got the start in game two and the Graduate Student pitched very well, going six innings allowing four hits and two earned runs. Oswego took game two 9-4 to extend the win streak to fourteen games and complete the seventh straight doubleheader sweep.
Oswego baseball returns to Laker Baseball Field Saturday, May 1st at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. against SUNYAC West opponent Fredonia. The Lakers will look to their momentum to continue their dominance in the conference division.
Oswego State Baseball Gets Set For Non-Conference Doubleheader
OSWEGO, N.Y. — Oswego State Baseball looks to extend their twelve game win streak and remain undefeated at home on Tuesday, April 27th at 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. against the University of Rochester. Oswego took sole possession of first place in the SUNYAC West with a doubleheader sweep over Brockport on Saturday, April 24th, and the Lakers now have a 9-1 conference record. This non-conference matchup could extend the win streak as the Lakers continue to ride this momentum into the later part of the season.
Oswego has not lost a game since the first day of the season back on April 3rd, and ever since that loss the Lakers have been dominant. Oswego is outscoring opponents 155-85 and winning games by an average of five runs on the season. Five of the top eleven on base percentage (OBP) leaders in the SUNYAC are in the deep Laker lineup. Paul Tammaro and Ryan Enos are back to back in second and third, Myles Felton is in fifth, and Kyle Lauria and Ryan Weiss are tenth and eleventh in the stat. While he is highly unlikely to pitch Tuesday after throwing six innings on Saturday, Kieran Finnegan won SUNYAC Pitcher of the Week last week.
Rochester comes in at 16-5 and 10-2 in the Liberty League which is good for first place as the Yellowjackets have looked sharp all season long. Rochester and Oswego were scheduled to meet Thursday, April 22nd in Rochester but that doubleheader was canceled and Tuesday’s doubleheader will be the only day the two teams meet this season. Oswego and Rochester have met once in each of the past three full seasons, the Lakers winning all three meetings.
Oswego takes the field Tuesday, April 27th for a non-conference doubleheader against Rochester at 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. at home. The Lakers will look to continue the momentum of the current twelve game win streak as the team gets closer to the nationwide Top 25.
Oswego State Baseball Sweeps Brockport to Take First Place
OSWEGO, N.Y. — Oswego State Baseball had a pivotal doubleheader on Saturday, April 24th at Laker Baseball Field. Oswego and Brockport came into the day at 7-1 and tied for first place in the SUNYAC West standings, each squad was also carrying a ten game win streak. Oswego took care of business as the Lakers swept the doubleheader by scores of 14-13 and 7-2, taking sole possession of first place in the SUNYAC West.
Game one had a plethora of runs, hits and errors, as the Brockport line read 13 runs on 17 hits and six errors, and Oswego’s line score read 14 runs on 11 hits and four errors, as the Lakers would take game one. Game one was a back and forth marathon that would go three hours and 45 minutes. Oswego led 7-2 heading into the fifth of nine innings, but Brockport hit two separate three run home runs to take the lead 8-7 in the fifth, and another two run homer coming in the sixth to make it 10-7. Oswego showed heart and fought back in the bottom of the sixth and seventh which featured a two RBI double from Ryan Weiss to make the game 10-9, and Weiss would score on an error to make it 10-10 in the sixth. Ryan Enos scored in the seventh to take the lead on a wild pitch, and Weiss as well as Kyle Lauria scored on an error to make it 13-10. Brockport tied it up at 13 in the top of the eighth, but Lauria hit a sacrifice fly that scored Paul Tammaro in the bottom of the eighth that would be the game winning run. Brockport had a runner on third with one out in the top of the ninth, looking to tie the game but a Tammaro to Enos to Weiss double play secured the 14-13 victory for the Lakers.
Game two would be nothing like the high scoring affair of game one, as it was a pitchers duel between Kieran Finnegan for the Lakers and Tommy Kretzler for Brockport in a seven inning contest. The game was one to one heading into the sixth, Brockport’s run coming on a first inning solo home run by Kretzler who was the designated hitter as well as pitcher, and a Myles Felton sacrifice fly in the second was the lone run for Oswego. Oswego opened the floodgates in the bottom of the sixth, scoring six runs on six hits in the frame. Brendon Frank doubled and Enos walked as the first two batters of the inning, and Lauria would bring both teammates in on a two RBI triple to swing the momentum to the Lakers. Weiss hit a sac fly that scored Lauria, and Felton hit a single that would mark the end of Kretzler’s day. Felton stole a couple bases allowing Frank Levanti to bunt Felton in from third, and Hunter Holliday tripled in Jonathan Luppens to make it 6-1. The final run of the inning came courtesy of a Tammaro single to make it 7-1 heading into the final frame. Brockport would score a run to make it 7-2, but Finnegan’s final line read 6 innings, 4 hits, 2 runs and 5 strikeouts for the junior who is emerging as the ace of this Lakers team.
Oswego improves to 13-1 overall and 9-1 conference and takes sole possession of first place in the SUNYAC West with the doubleheader sweep. Brockport falls to 7-3 in the conference and now holds second place in the division over Fredonia. Oswego returns to action Tuesday, April 27th for a 1:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. doubleheader against non conference opponent University of Rochester.