The Oswego State baseball team (9-4, 2-1 SUNYAC) bounced back from an 8-7 walk-off loss to Brockport (10-5, 1-2 SUNYAC) by defeating the Golden Eagles, 9-3, in the final game of a three-game series to close out spring break for both teams.
Saturday's, (March 22) competition started with both squads picking up where they left off Friday afternoon in a game halted by rain. When play resumed, Brockport had the bases loaded with one out, trailing 7-5, in its final at-bat. The Golden Eagles drew a walk to pull within one run before the game was tied following a wild pitch. The next Brockport batter was walked as well to load the bases again. Kyle Tracy was then hit by a pitch to bring across the game winning run.
Miles Kelly (Fr., Clifton Park, N.Y.) suffered the loss despite working a third of an inning, while Bradley Westling picked up the win after 1.1. innings of work.
The loss did not dishearten Oswego State at the start of the third game. Tim Smith (Jr., Auburn, N.Y.) roped a triple to the gap in right center field to plate Mike Stark (Sr., Rochester, N.Y.). Smith scored during the next at-bat when Jordan Giller (Fr., Toronto, Ontario) grounded out to the shortstop to put the Lakers ahead 2-0 at the end of one.
After Brockport scored an unearned run in the third, the Golden Eagles capitalized on a leadoff walk by Nick Bunce in the fourth. Dan Hurlimann hit a double to bring in Bunce from first, and later scored himself following back-to-back Laker defensive errors to put Brockport in front, 3-2.
Oswego State's Ed Charles (Sr., Auburn, N.Y.) fueled a four-run rally in the fifth when he started the stanza with a triple. He touched home when Scott Buniak (Jr., Clifton Park, N.Y.) delivered a shot into right field. Two outs later, Giller and Michael Mascari (Sr., Syracuse, N.Y.) were hit by pitches to load the bases before Brian Hamilton (So., Liverpool, N.Y.) cleared them with a triple into left center, as the Lakers went ahead, 6-3.
Brockport nearly got a run back in its portion of the fifth, but Kyle Tracy was gunned down at home plate by Buniak. Buniak followed up the play by scoring in the sixth and drove in Alex Jurczynski (Sr., Schenectady, N.Y.) to give Oswego State an 8-3 advantage.
After the Lakers tacked on another run in the ninth courtesy of Hamilton's fifth RBI of the game, Ryan Donovan (Jr., Utica, N.Y.) sat the Golden Eagles down in order to seal the victory.
Oswego State starter Jon Stevens (Sr., Chittenango, N.Y.) scattered eight hits and three runs, one of which was earned, over the course of seven innings to earn his second win of the season. Donovan kept Brockport off the base path in the final two innings. James Bardenett suffered the loss after giving up six runs on seven hits over five innings.
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