The No. 9/10 Oswego State baseball team defeated the Oneonta Red Dragons 7-2 and 9-2 in both ends of a conference twin bill on Saturday afternoon. Oswego improves to 28-8 overall and wraps up league play with a 15-3 record, while Oneonta falls to 14-21 and 5-14 in the SUNYAC.
Following Senior Day celebrations prior to the day's first game, – where the Lakers honored their 10 graduating players – Oswego continued to roll. With the victory in game one, the nationally-ranked squad clinched the top seed and the rights to host the 2017 SUNYAC Baseball Championship. It is the first time since the SUNYAC Championship was instituted in 1998 that the year-end tournament has been hosted anywhere, but Cortland. For more regarding the tournament, see below.
Game One: Oswego 7, Oneonta 2
Tim Cronin led the Lakers with yet another strong performance on the mound, as he earned his ninth win of the season (9-0) and sixth complete game. The Walden, N.Y. native allowed just two earned runs, while he struck out three and more importantly kept Oswego in the game as its bats started slowly.
Heading into the fourth inning, the Lakers were unable to manufacture a hit, despite scoring a run. Zach Whelan reached base after getting plunked and made his way around before being driven in on an Eric Hamilton sacrifice fly.
Kyle Dinges smacked a single to left field in the bottom of the fourth to collect the home team's first base knock and effectively opened the flood gates. After they scored twice in the said frame, they would add four more runs before wrapping up the historic win.
Game Two: Oswego 9, Oneonta 2
Oswego continued right where it left off in the backend of the doubleheader. Following a Kyle Simmons single in the lead-off spot, Hamilton smacked the ball to the left side of the infield and then beat the throw down the line. The Liverpool, N.Y. native finished the day with five hits, which brought his total to 17 base hits, during the week's five games.
During the next at-bat, Mike Dellicarri singled to right field and drove in both Simmons and Hamilton. He continued his stellar season in the second inning as he drove a 0-1 pitch through the wind and over the fence for a two-run homer.
Robert Donnelly turned in a strong performance on the mound, insuring a Laker victory. The junior hurler tossed five innings of one-run ball and struck out three. Brandon Schultzkie, Charles Arcuri, Andrew Morano and John-Michael Guarino each pitched an inning in relief and combined to allow just three hits and one run.
Although the pitching staff did not need any extra run support, the Lakers scored five more times. In the sixth, Eli Holton punched a 2-RBI double down the left-field line. Elsewhere throughout, Kevin Hylas produced an RBI groundout, scoring Whelan and Hamilton singled to center to score Alex Brown.
Baseball will return to the field for a solo contest on the road at the Rochester Institute of Technology at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, prior to hosting the conference championship over the weekend.
The three-day, four-team double-elimination tournament will commence at 12 p.m. on Friday with the top-seed Lakers hosting the No. 4 New Paltz Hawks. For more information on game times and matchups, see the tourney bracket.
