Athletic teams at SUNY Oswego continue to feel the effects of COVID-19 in the form of game postponements and cancellations. The start of the season for the Oswego State baseball team is pushed back, and the softball team has a third of their remaining games canceled or postponed.
Oswego baseball was scheduled to open their season on the road at Saint John Fisher in a doubleheader on Saturday March 27 which was postponed. The season opener then became Wednesday March 31 against Ithaca at home, and that game was canceled. The Lakers baseball team is now scheduled to start their season Saturday April 3rd in a 1:00 and 3:00 doubleheader at Brockport.
Oswego softball opened their season with a doubleheader at RIT on Monday March 22, the Lakers lost the first game 9-8, and won the second game 4-3. The 1-1 Lakers softball team was scheduled to play at Saint John Fisher in a doubleheader on Monday March 29, those two games are postponed. Oswego softball was slated for a doubleheader on back to back days, Wednesday April 7 versus Houghton, and Thursday April 8 at Potsdam, all four of those games have been canceled. Oswego softball is scheduled to play their next game in a doubleheader April 10 at home against Brockport.
Oswego baseball will get a late start to their season, and softball will have a long layoff before returning to game action. Men’s lacrosse plays Friday April 2 at 4:00 at Brockport and Women’s lacrosse returns back to action Saturday April 3 at 1:00 versus Fredonia at home. Catch all the action on WTOP 10 as the spring sports season continues on.
-
Oswego State women’s basketball splits in weekend road trip
ONEONTA, N.Y. — The Oswego State women’s basketball team split in their weekend doubleheader, falling to New Paltz 56-37 on Friday before defeating Oneonta 56-52 on Saturday.
On Friday, the Lakers were able to keep pace with the two-time defending SUNYAC champions throughout most of the game. After a back-and-forth first quarter, New Paltz built a 19-8 lead by the opening minute of the second quarter. Though, the Lakers stormed back and went on a 13-2 run to knot the game at 21-21 with four minute remaining in the half. Freshman Diamond Pickett and senior Danielle Caivana combined for 11 points during that stretch run. Both teams scored last-minute buckets to end the half with Oswego trailing 27-24 at the break. Caivana started the second half off hot, scoring the Lakers first five points of the third quarter and tying the game at 29 apiece. However, that would be as close as the Lakers got for the remainder of the game. New Paltz went on a 17-0 run across the third and into the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. Oswego outrebounded the Hawks 48-37, but were unable to capitalize on many second chance scoring opportunities.
Looking to avenge their loss the night before, Oswego started Saturday’s game off strong. The Lakers we’re up 19-11 after the opening quarter, lead by freshman Shania Iglesias who contributed a whopping 11 points. Both teams went on scoring runs throughout the second quarter, bring the halftime score to 31-21 Lakers. Oswego started to pull away in the second half. Danielle Caivana became red hot from beyond the arc, hitting a trio of three pointers as the Oswego lead grew to a staggering 21 points. However, Oneonta rallied back in the final 10 minutes of regulation. The Red Dragons went on a 24-9 run and brought the game within five points with under minute to go. However, free throws from Caivana and Diamond Pickett iced the game for the Lakers. Iglesias finished with a season-high 20 points while Danielle Caivana put up 15 of her own. Diamond Pickett also totaled a game-high 14 rebounds and three steals.
With Saturday’s victory, Oswego swept the season series with Oneonta and also snapped a five-game losing streak. While the Lakers improved to 5-17 on the season, they are unfortunately eliminated from SUNYAC playoff contention. Although this is the case, Oswego will look to finish the season off strong as they host their final two games next weekend against SUNY Brockport and Fredonia. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. on Friday at the Max Ziel Gymnasium.
Image Provided by Will 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
-
Men’s basketball finishes the season with two wins
OSWEGO N.Y. — The Oswego State men’s basketball team finished their season this past weekend. Having already clinched the first seed for the SUNYAC tournament, these games were just momentum builders for the tournament. The Lakers were set to play the Brockport Golden Eagles and Fredonia Blue Devils, both games at home.
Friday night’s game against Brockport started close, 8-7 after five minutes. Then Oswego found their rhythm, a 13-0 run saw the lead jump to 21-8 with thirteen minutes left in the half. Jamal Achille made it a twenty point lead with just under four minutes remaining, 39-19. The Lakers biggest lead in the half was twenty-four with fifty seconds remaining, and by the end of the half Brockport closed the lead slightly to 49-29. The Golden Eagles attempted to bring it back multiple times in the second half, but Oswego always answered. Brockport got the deficit to seventeen with just under fourteen minutes left, and the smallest gap in the second half, fifteen, with nine and a half to go in the game. Oswego reached eighty points with three minutes to go in the game on an Ahkee Anderson free throw, and from there the reserves checked in to finish the game. Oswego scored three more times after Anderson‘s free throws and won the game 87-63. Five Lakers found double digit scoring in the game, Ahkee Anderson (16), Jamal Achille (16), Devin Green (13), Julien Crittendon (12), and Christian Simmons (11). Green also added ten rebounds for his first double-double of the season.
The final game of the season was against the Fredonia Blue Devils. Before the game stared the Lakers recognized their seven seniors, Brendon Mulson, Christian Simmons, Eric Sanfilippo, Jordan Brown, Hunter Cole, Julien Crittendon, Louis Fedullo. Simmons, Sanfilippo, Cole, Crittendon, and Fedullo were the starters for the game, while Mulson and Brown were the first two off the bench. Christian Simmons stole the show early, he hit two three and had two layups for the Lakers first ten points while the Blue Devils only had six just three minutes into the game. An 11-0 Lakers run behind four from Jordan Brown and Jeremiah Sparks saw the lead get to 21-6 with thirteen to go in the half. Oswego kept pushing the gap with the lead 27-10 after a Kaleb Cook layup with ten to go in the frame. Just under the seven minute mark was when Oswego reached the forty point mark on a Julien Crittendon three, and the lead was twenty-five. Another nine from the Lakers and ten from the Blue Devils before the end of the half saw both teams head to the locker rooms, Oswego up 49-25. Simmons started the second half exactly where he started the first, he had twelve points in the first five minutes of the half, and Oswego’s advantage ballooned to thirty-four, 67-33. Oswego reached eighty on an Ahkee Anderson jumper with eleven and a half to go. The biggest play of the game came with nine minutes remaining, Jordan Brown tipped a three point attempt by Fredonia’s Aaron Collins, Jamal Achille grabbed the ball and threw it up court to a wide open Brown who slammed it down with one hand to extend the lead to 84-37. With seven to go, the Lakers reserves checked in to finish the regular season. They got Oswego over the century mark for the fourth time this season and second time this month and Oswego walked away victorious in their final game, 104-55. Christian Simmons led the Lakers with his season high twenty-four points. Two other Lakers went were over ten, Julien Crittendon (12) and Jeremiah Sparks (11). Sixteen Lakers found the score sheet.
Oswego finished the season with a record of 23-2 (17-1 SUNYAC). They hold the first seed in the conference and will host both semi-final matchups and the finals for the SUNYAC tournament starting Friday. WTOP10 will have coverage of all games played on Oswego’s campus.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY DIANA VITALE, WTOP10 PHOTOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT
