ONEONTA, N.Y. - The Oneonta baseball team capped off the weekend with a 12-5 senior day victory over Fredonia on Saturday afternoon to complete a 3-0 sweep against the Blue Devils. The Red Dragons move to 22-9 overall and 8-4 in the SUNYAC and have recorded their most regular season wins since the 2010 season. The Blue Devils fall to 5-22 and 0-12 in the conference. Additionally, junior Michael Sadowski (Queens, NY/Queens Metropolitan) eclipsed 100 career strikeouts and now has 105.
After a shaky start, Sadowski settled in and struck out two Blue Devils in the top of the first inning. Sophomore Josh Gilkey (Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse Minor) led off with a single in the bottom of the frame, but three quick Red Dragons' outs sent it to the second inning.
Fredonia's Alex Gannon doubled to center field, putting runners on second and third. AJ Roach grounded out to the third base, but Tyler Curtis reached home to take a 1-0 lead.
Oneonta evened the score when senior Tyler Widercrantz (Wading River, NY/Shoreham Wading River) singled in senior Justin Maler (Brookhaven, NY/Bellport). The Blue Devils added another run in the third following a Red Dragons' error to go up 2-1.
In the bottom of the fourth, senior Nate Guillen (Haverstraw, NY/North Rockland) doubled to center field to add a run from junior Gregory Bandura (Pine Bush, NY/Pine Bush). Widercrantz hit another single to allow Guillen to score and take a 3-2 lead.
Bandura used a sacrifice bunt to advance Maler to second in the sixth inning. Widercrantz tacked on another single and then stole second base. Freshman Nick Jacoby (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown) hit a two-RBI single, pushing the Oneonta advantage to 5-2.
The Red Dragons added three more runs in the seventh inning, with senior Franklin Padilla (Brooklyn, NY/LaSalle Academy) hitting an RBI double and then Gullien knocking in a two-run triple to right center to put the Red Dragons up by six.
A Tyler Curtis two-RBI single in the top of the eighth cut the Oneonta lead to 8-4, but a solid Red Dragons' response prevented any notion of a comeback. Jacoby stole home, and then Gilkey scored on a Joe Ottaviano (Nanuet, NY/Albertus Magnus) single. Senior Jake Barrett (Hauppauge, NY/St. Anthony's) doubled in Ottaviano and reached home on a Padilla sacrifice fly.
Widercrantz finished the day hitting 3-for-4 with one run, two RBI, and two stolen bases. Guillen went 2-for-4 with three RBI, one run, one double, and a triple. Barrett, Maler, and Bandura each scored two runs.
Sadowski (2-3) pitched 7.0 innings with six strikeouts while allowing just three hits.
Oneonta faces SUNY Cobleskill next in non-conference action on Wed. Apr. 26 at 4 p.m. at Cobleskill.
