ONEONTA, N.Y. - On a perfect spring day, the Oneonta baseball team earned two wins to start the weekend series against Fredonia on Friday afternoon. The Red Dragons (21-9, 7-4 SUNYAC) cruised to a 12-2 victory in the first game and then edged the Blue Devils (5-21, 0-10 SUNYAC) 10-8 in the second contest.

Senior Sean Liquori (Thiells, NY/North Rockland) struck out two Blue Devils to set the tone early in the first inning of game one. Oneonta brought two runs in the bottom of the frame, and sophomore Josh Gilkey (Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse Minor) reached third following two outs. Freshman Matt Sandoval (West Islip, NY/West Islip Senior) walked and stole second, and then senior Liam Kaseta (Somers, NY/Somers) hit a two-RBI single up the middle to make it 2-0. 

Liquori struck out two more in the second for a 1-2-3 inning, and the Red Dragons continued to build their lead. A triple from freshman Nick Jacoby (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown) brought senior Nate Guillen (Haverstraw, NY/North Rockland) home, and Jacoby scored on a Gilkey sacrifice fly. 

Oneonta kept Fredonia scoreless and added one more run in the fifth in the bottom of the fifth to take a 5-0 lead. 

Fredonia's Brady Ventura led off with a double in the top of the sixth and then scored following a Garrett Stuckey single to right field. Stuckey ran in after a sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 5-2. 

In the seventh, sophomore Anthony Foglia (Somers, NY/North Salem) doubled to left center and was brought home when Kaseta doubled down the left-field line.

The Red Dragons ended the game early in the eighth by bringing in six runs on four hits to take a 10-run lead. Gilkey singled in two runs, and Oneonta capped things off when Gregory Bandura (Pine Bush, NY/Pine Bush) doubled in three RBI. 

Kaseta hit 3-for-3 with four RBI, one run, and two walks. Gilkey went 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs. 

Liquori (3-1) went all eight innings with four strikeouts.

Fredonia took a 4-2 lead after the fifth inning following home runs from Tyler Curtis and Alex Gannon. Oneonta struggled to hit early on but woke up at the bottom of the fifth. Fifth-year Joe Ottaviano (Nanuet, NY/Albertus Magnus) led off with a triple to left center and then scored off a Guillen double. The Red Dragons loaded the bases, and senior Jake Barrett (Hauppauge, NY/St. Anthony's) hit a sacrifice fly to allow Guillen to score. Sandoval then hit a three-RBI double to push Oneonta ahead 7-4. 

The Blue Devils scored again in the seventh inning, but the Red Dragons responded with a run of their own. 

In the eighth, Stuckey doubled to bring a run in from Jeremy Rosado to make it 8-6. Jacoby singled in a pair of runs to push Oneonta's lead to 10-6 heading into the ninth inning. Fredonia looked for the comeback when Gannon tripled to advance a runner home and then scored on a passed ball. Junior Tom Roefaro (Utica, NY/Notre Dame) picked up the save by striking out the following two Blue Dragons to close the game. 

Ottaviano went 2-for-4 with one run, and Jacoby was 2-for-4 with two RBI. 

Oneonta finishes the series against Fredonia on Sat. Apr. 22 at noon on Red Dragon Baseball Field.