The SUNY Oneonta baseball team swept Old Westbury yesterday on the road, coming from behind in game 1 and then taking game 2 in extra innings.  The Red Dragons got some solid pitching and some timely hitting in snapping its mini four-game skid.

In game 2, with the score tied at the end of seven innings, the two teams played a scoreless eighth inning before Oneonta (5-11) plated three runs to take a 6-3 lead.  Senior Jim Hegmann (Middletown/Pine Bush) set the Panthers down in order in the bottom of the inning to record the victory.  Hegmann had entered the game in the sixth inning, relieving starter Jared Bronley, who pitched 5-2/3 innings of six-hit ball allowing two earned runs.

In the top of the ninth, Jake Robinson (Oyster Bay/Oyster Bay) led off with a single and then stole second before being moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Matt Mastroianni (Somers/North Salem).  Robinson scored on a double down the left field line by senior Rob Peluso (Rensselaer/Columbia).  The next batter was Thomas Hand (Wallkill/Valley Central) and he lined a single up the middle that scored Peluso.  After stealing second base, Hand was put out in a rundown on a fielder's choice, which allowed Kevin Lezette to move into scoring position.  Lezette scored on a single by leadoff hitter Dean Haussel (Sound Beach/Miller Place).

In the opening game of the day, freshmen Benji Parkes (Lansing/Lansing) was touched up for a pair of first inning runs, but then shut Old Westbury down for the next five innings before giving way to Hegmann, who pitched a scoreless seventh to pick up his third save of the season.

Oneonta broke up a no-hitter in the seventh and cashed in for four runs en route to the 4-2 win.  The big hit in the inning came off the bat of freshman Mike Schoonmaker (Marlboro/Marlboro), who drilled a two out double to drive in a pair to break a 2-2 tie.  Hand and Robinson scored on the hit.

Earlier in the week, the Red Dragons dropped single nine inning games at St. Joseph's College and Montclair State.  The Red Dragons fell 4-0 on Tuesday at St. Joe's and 9-6 to Montclair State on Wednesday.

Against Montclair, Oneonta fell behind early 9-1, but rallied late to close the gap.  Senior Ivan Plata (Guilderland/Guilderland) was 3-for-4 at the plate with a pair of runs batted in.

Oneonta will be off until next Tuesday when they travel to New Paltz for its opening SUNYAC contest of the season beginning at 3pm.