MARIETTA, OHIO — The Oswego State Lakers took to the road over the holiday weekend to take on the Marietta College Pioneers in the NCAA Division Three Super Regionals. A tough test for the Lakers, as the Pioneers were ranked the number two team in the country by D3baseball.com at the end of the regular season and had easily run through their competition in the regional round. 

The first game of the weekend was postponed from Friday to Saturday due to the weather. When it started, Oswego was the team to strike first. A Paul Tammaro lead-off single was followed by a Ryan Enos walk. Both runners would steal the next base, and Lukas Olsson would ground out but drive in Tammaro in the process. Marietta quickly answered tying the game at one in the bottom of the first. Both teams were held scoreless through the second and third innings. Marietta took the lead in the bottom of the fourth. The Pioneers scored seven times in the fourth to take an 8-1 lead, all seven of the runs being unearned. Marietta scored twice more in the bottom of the fifth to get a 10-1 lead. Oswego got one back on a Ryan Enos double scoring Frank Levanti. Unfortunately, Marietta hit a three-run home run to extend the lead 13-2 in the bottom of the sixth. No runs would be scored during the rest of the game and Marietta took game one of the best of three set. Paul Tammaroand Jacob Levine shared the team’s hit lead with two each. Kieran Finnegan got the start for the Lakers. He went 3.2 innings, gave up eight hits and eight runs, only one being earned. He struck out two and walked one.

Game two was played Sunday. In the first two innings, both of the teams were held scoreless, but Marietta quickly changed that in the third. They scored six runs on only three hits. Two of the runs were unearned as the Lakers had three errors in the inning. In the bottom of the third, the Lakers scored one, Ryan Enos scoring on a Lukas Olsson single. The Pioneers scored five more runs in the top of the fourth, including a three-run home run. Marietta scored twice more in the top of the fifth. Another two-run home run in the top of the sixth gave Marietta a 15-1 lead. The Pioneers crossed the plate four more times in the top of the eighth. In the bottom of the eighth, the Lakers scored four runs. Ryan Enos drove in one with a bases-loaded walk. Lukas Olsson drove in the other three with a double. Neither team scored in the ninth and Marietta moved on to the Division 3 World Series. Lukas Olsson led the team with three hits and four RBIs. Anthony Van Fossen got the start in game two for Oswego. He went 2.1 innings, giving up six runs, only four earned, on three hits, two walks, and two strikeouts.

The Lakers’ season ends with a 33-13 record. They went 16-2 in conference matchups. The team was led by second basemen Ryan Enos who had a .451 batting average, 21 doubles, a triple, 10 home runs, and 60 RBIs. Shortstop Paul Tammaro also had an extremely good year. He batted .444 with 16 doubles, two triples, seven home runs, and 26 RBIs. Centerfielder Kyle Lauria hit .345 with 12 doubles, three triples, five home runs, and 53 RBIs. First Baseman Ryan Weiss hit .315 with 11 doubles, ten home runs, and 38 RBIs. Pitcher Kieran Finnegan had thirteen starts for the Lakers, he pitched 75.2 innings pitched. he had a 2.97 ERA with a 1.33 WHIP, he pitched four complete games. He walked 17 and struck out 59, opponents hit .275 against him. EnosTammaroLauriaWeiss, and Finnegan all earned All-SUNYAC First-team honors. Pitcher Jacob Sanders, Catcher Lukas Olsson, and Designated Hitter Jacob Levine were all awarded All Second-Team honors. Freshman Tishawn Featherstone was awarded SUNYAC Freshman of the year.

IMAGE PROVIDED BY OSWEGO ATHLETICS