The Oswego State Baseball team takes the field on April 3rd for the first time in the 2021 season, after the first three games to start their season were postponed or canceled. The Lakers go on the road to Brockport for a 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. doubleheader against the Golden Eagles, as they begin their road to a fourth straight SUNYAC title.
The first pitch on Saturday will mark the first game for the Lakers since the last contest of their shortened 2020 season on March 8th, which was a 6-4 win at Arcadia. The Lakers have won three straight SUNYAC titles and looked like they would have a good chance at four straight in their abbreviated season. The Lakers return three graduate students as well as 13 seniors who are all looking to win yet another SUNYAC championship. Oswego lost lots of top players over the past two years, but return big bats in Ryan Weiss (.444 AVG, 2 2B, 6 RBIs in 2020), Paul Tammaro (.429 AVG, 6 runs, 2B in 2020), and Kyle Lauria (.360 AVG, 2 2B, 2 3B, 7 RBIs in 2020).
Brockport is off to a 3-1 start, with a doubleheader split at Oneonta, followed by a dominating doubleheader sweep at Fredonia in which they outscored the Blue Devils a combined 32-4 this past Tuesday, March 30th. The doubleheader against Oswego marks Brockport baseball’s first game on their home field this season. Brockport has a plethora of hitters off to scorching hot starts this season; James Houlahan (.529 AVG, 2B, 2 RBIs), Ryan Mansell (.500 AVG, 4 2B, 3 RBIs), Nick Pastore (.471 AVG, 2 3B, 4 RBIs), Ryan Voight (.364, AVG, 2 2B, 1 HR, 7 RBIs).
Oswego pitchers will look to cool down the hot Brockport bats and the hitters will look to get off to a hot start right out of the gate. Oswego baseball starts their season Saturday, April 3rd at Brockport, with first pitches of the doubleheader scheduled for 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. and WTOP 10 will continue to deliver content on the Oswego State Baseball team over the course of their 2021 season.
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Softball loses five over hard weekend matchups
OSWEGO, N.Y. — The Oswego State softball team played six games over four days this weekend. A Friday double header in New Paltz against the Hawks was followed by a Saturday double header in Oneonta with the Red Dragons, the team had a day off Sunday, but played another double header at home against the Plattsburgh Cardinals Monday.
Friday’s first game in New Paltz saw the Hawks grab an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first. Two two-out singles were followed by a triple, bringing that brought both runners home to open the scoring. In the bottom of the second the Hawks would strike again. A two-out double was followed by a single. A throwing error would bring home the lead runner, and another triple would bring home the other runner. No more runs would be scored until the seventh inning, where the Lakers finally found the score sheet. Two one-out singles were followed by Madison Hoeflich reaching on an error, that would score the first runner of the inning for the Lakers. Ellie Mahoney then grounded out the the Shortstop, but would bring home another run. A Samantha Morgan double brought home the third run of the inning for the Lakers, but the scoring would end there, and Oswego fell 4-3. The Lakers only had four hits on the day, no batter having more than one, and a lone walk. Freshman Maria Lutz pitched all six innings for Oswego, allowing four runs, nine hits, two walks, and striking out two.
Game two of the double header was a more convincing win for New Paltz. The Hawks scored one in the first, but Oswego would match the run the second on a Ellie Mahoney single. Errors in the bottom half of the second brought home two more runs, and a two out double in the third brought home run number four for the Hawks. The bottom of the fourth was started by a single for New Paltz which was followed by a double driving home the run. Oswego got two consecutive pop-outs after, but a single drove home the sixth run. Oswego held New Paltz scoreless in the fifth, but three runs in the sixth triggered the mercy rule, and the game ended 9-1 in favor of the Hawks. Zoe Mennig led the Lakers with two hits, and Madison Hoeflich led the Lakers with two walks. Fiona Higgins had a rough day on the mound. She allowed fifteen hits, nine runs, eight earned, and walked three, she would strike out six.
The Lakers took the two hour trip to Oneonta for the Saturday double header. The Lakers found the scoreboard in the top of the first in game one. Tai Smith led off with a walk, and she was moved to second by a sac bunt. Taylor Dubois hit a double moving Smith to third, and a fielder’s choice in the next at bat scored the run. The Lakers held the Red Dragons scoreless until the third inning, when a lead off triple would be driven in by a sac fly to tie the game. Oneonta scored once more in the fourth inning, and twice more in the fifth. In the sixth, a two out single, then stole second and was driven in by a double. Oswego wouldn’t score in the seventh, and the game ended 5-1 Oneonta. Taylor Dubois led Oswego with two hits. Tai Smith got on base three times, a hit and a team leading two walks. Maria Lutz pitched all six innings once again, allowing five runs, four earned, on nine hits and no walks, striking out two.
Game two of the second double header saw Oneonta grab a big lead in the bottom of the first, scoring four. The next run wouldn’t be scored until the top of the third, when Taylor Dubois hit a lead off double and was then drive in by Zoe Mennig’s double in the next at bat. A scoreless fourth was followed by a scoreless top of the fifth, and the Red Dragons broke the scoreless streak in the bottom of the fifth, crossing the plate once. Oneonta grabbed two more in the bottom of the sixth, and the Lakers, trying to rally could only manage one in the top of the seventh, a Zoe Mennig solo shot to left, and the Red Dragons took game two, 7-2. Samantha Morgan led the Lakers, going three for three at the plate. Zoe Mennig drove in both runs for Oswego. Madison Hoeflich got the start for the Lakers, but only pitched one inning, allowing four runs, two earned, on five hits, striking out two. Chelsea Sellars pitched the remaining five innings for Oswego, allowing three runs, one earned, on six hits, and four strike outs.
The Lakers took a much needed day off Sunday, and took to the diamond for two more Monday to take on the Cardinals of Plattsburgh. The Cardinals went 1-2-3 in the top of the first, and the Lakers struck first in the bottom half. The first two batters would get out, then Taylor Dubois and Zoe Mennig would reach on errors. Fiona Higgins drove in both with a double. The second inning was scoreless, and Plattsburgh grabbed their first run in the top of the third on an error. Two more scoreless innings brought the game to the sixth, where the Cardinals struck again. The Lakers committed two errors to start the inning, allowing two runners on base. A single by the next batter loaded the bases, and another single drove in the first run of the inning, second of the game for the Cardinals. A pop out to second got out number one of the inning, and a fly out to center got the second out, but also drove in the runner from third, for the third run of the game and the lead for Plattsburgh. Another single drove in the fourth run, and the walk that followed reloaded the bases. Another single brought home two more, and Plattsburgh got out of the inning with a 6-2 lead. Oswego wouldn’t score after the first, and lost the game. Fiona Higgins led Oswego with two hits and two RBIs. Maria Lutz pitched all seven innings, doing the whole game for the third time over the weekend. She allowed six runs, two earned, do to three errors on the Lakers. Lutz struck out four and walked three during the game
The Lakers finally turned things around in game two of the double header, and the final one of the weekend. The Lakers scored three times in the bottom of the first on hits by Zoe Mennig and Fiona Higgins. Neither team would score until Oswego did in the bottom of the fifth. Fiona Higgins drove in the fourth run for Oswego on a double, and in the next at bat, Madison Hoeflich brought in one more on a single. The Lakers scored two more in the inning on a single and a sacrifice hit, bringing their total to seven in the game. Zoe Mennig brought in one more run in the bottom of the sixth, triggering the mercy rule. Zoe Mennig went 4-4 at the plate, driving in two runs, and scoring two of her own. Fiona Higgins was the star of the day though. She went 2-3 at the plate driving in three runs, and pitched six scoreless innings, striking out six, while only allowing two hits and two walks.
The Lakers get the next three days off, until the play a double header Friday against the Brockport golden eagles at home, game one set to start at 3:00 P.M. They play their final series of the season against Geneseo at home Saturday with a double header. The lakers now sit a 9-22 (4-10 SUNYAC). They are currently eighth in the SUNYAC, two games back of Fredonia in the six seed, the final spot in the SUNYAC playoffs.
PHOTO COURTESY OF OSWEGO ATHLETICS
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Oswego State Baseball Extends Win Streak
CLARKSON, N.Y. — Oswego State Baseball defeated Clarkson in a non-conference doubleheader on Wednesday, March 14th. Oswego won game one 17-13 and game two 9-4, to get their record to 9-1 on the season. This extends the Lakers win streak to eight wins after dropping their second game of the season.
Game one saw ten pitchers between the two teams get the ball in a slugfest, record breaking game. Paul Tammaro tied the Oswego record for hits in a game, in his 5-6 day at the plate for the Lakers. Ryan Weiss had 6 RBIs on the day, tying for second most in a game in program history, Weiss was 3-6 at the plate along with a grand slam to go with his 6 RBIs. Ryan Enos also had an outstanding game one at the plate, Enos was 2-4 with a double and 4 RBIs in the Laker win. Oswego led 7-0 going into the 6th, and the game was tied 9-9 going into the 8th. After both teams could not produce a run in the 8th, Oswego exploded for eight runs in the top of the 9th. Clarkson made a little comeback in the bottom of the 9th, but the Lakers would take game one 17-13.
Pitchers dominated the first few innings as the game was scoreless after four. Anthony Van Fossen threw five scoreless innings, before getting into some trouble in the sixth. Van Fossen got some bullpen help from Connor Van Dreason who did not allow a hit in his 1.2 innings of work. Oswego would get three separate 2 RBI singles, from Julian Drew, Kyle Lauria, and Ryan Enos each, driving in two runs in the 5th, 6th and 7th innings. Drew, Lauria, and Paul Tammaro would all score on wild pitches or passed balls. The Lakers led 5-0 going into the final two frames, and 5-4 going into the 7th. Oswego would score four insurance runs, and hold Clarkson scoreless in the 7th to win game two 9-4.
Oswego baseball is now on an eight game win streak, and the Lakers look to make it ten straight on Sunday, April 18th versus Trinity College at 1:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. The non-conference matchup is the first time an out of state opponent has traveled to Oswego since the COVID-19 pandemic started.
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Baseball sweeps final weekend, secures one seed for SUNYAC tournament
ALLEGHENY, N.Y. — The Oswego State baseball team travelled to Fredonia for the final weekend of the season before SUNYAC playoffs. A three game set with game one on Friday and the other two games Saturday.
The first game of the series was played at SUNY Brockport, and Oswego showed why they are the best team in the conference and one of the best in the nation. In only the top of the first inning, the Lakers asserted their dominance. The first three batters reached base, and Paul Tammaro scored during Lukas Olsson’s at bat on a wild pitch. Olsson would then clear the bases with a three run home run to give the Lakers a 4-0 lead. Two more runs crossed the plate before the end of the inning, Fredonia grabbed their bats for the first time down 6-0. A scoreless bottom half of the first and top of the second led to Fredonia finding the scoreboard in the bottom of the second. Back to back singles were followed by a double scoring one, and then two ground outs scored two more, Fredonia only down 6-3. The top of the fourth was when the Lakers struck again, sending home four runners for a 10-3 lead. A Jacob Levine grand slam in the fifth made in 14-3. In the sixth inning two more runs scored for the Lakers making it 16-3. A solo shot in the bottom of the seventh for Fredonia made it 16-4. Seven runs scored for Oswego in the eight making it 23-4. The Blue Devils scored three in the eighth and one in the ninth making it 23-8, but Oswego offensive dominance reigned supreme in this one. Five Lakers had two hits during the game. Lukas Olsson and Jacob Levine both had four RBIs. Jacob Sanders started for the Lakers, going 4 innings, allowing three runs on three hits, walking one and striking out three.
Games two and three were played at Alleghany High School. Game two was much different than game one. The first two innings were scoreless. In the top of the third, Paul Tammaro hit a one-out solo shot to give the Lakers a 1-0 lead. In the top of the fourth, a Julien Drew bases loaded single brought home the second run of the game and a Paul Tammaro single an out later drove home the third. In the bottom of the fourth, a two run shot by the Blue Devils brought closed the gap to 3-2. In the top of the fifth, Lukas Olsson answered the two run homer with one of his own. The pitching took over the rest of the game, no runs scoring through the remaining two and a half innings. Paul Tammaro led the Lakers with three hits. Tammaro and Lukas Olsson tying for the RBI lead with two each. Kieran Finnegan got the start for Oswego. he pitched five innings, allowing two runs on five hits and three walks, striking out four. He was relieved by Ben Wilcox, who pitched the remaining two innings, giving up one hit and striking out two. The Lakers also clinched the SUNYAC title with the win.
In game three, the Lakers struck in the first inning. A Ryan Weiss single scoring Ryan Enos from third. In the top of the third, a Tishawn Featherstone grand slam extended the lead to 5-0. In the top of the fourth, Kyle Lauria hit a two run home run for the Lakers sixth and seventh runs. The next runs weren’t scored until the top of the ninth, with the Lakers hitting their third home run of the game, this one off the bat of Brett Myers, a three run shot, giving the Lakers a 10-0 lead. Fredonia would cross the plate once in the bottom of the ninth to avoid the shutout, but the Lakers finished a dominating series with a 10-1 lead. Blake VanDreason and CJ McCarthy led Oswego in hits with two each. Nine other Lakers got a hit. Tishawn Featherstone‘s grand slam gave him the teams RBI lead. Anthony Van Fossen got the start for Oswego, going four innings, allowing two hits and one walk, striking out two. Jai Sharma pitched two innings of relief, striking out four.
The Lakers finished their season with a 28-8 (16-2 SUNYAC) record. The will play the Plattsburgh Cardinals in game one of the SUNYAC playoffs Thursday. D3baseball.com’s rankings were last updated on May 3, the Lakers sitting in 14th.
PHOTO COURTESY OF WILLIAM ROGERS, WTOP10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
