ONEONTA, N.Y. - The Oneonta baseball team tied in the eighth inning after trailing by four runs, but a Logan Karwowski home run in the ninth gave Cortland a 6-4 win on Friday afternoon. Oneonta falls to 19-17 overall and 7-9 SUNYAC, while Cortland moves 25-8-1 overall and 15-1 in the conference.
Cortland struck in the top of the first with Luicas Granger reaching home following a Tristan Gatchalian groundout to second. Sophomore Zachary Rowe (Hudson, NY/Taconic Hills) struck out one batter in the inning to keep it 1-0. Oneonta was held without a hit until the top of the sixth inning, with Warren Miller striking out 12 batters over 7.0 innings.
Cortland added a second run in the second when Anthony Carlo scored on a sacrifice fly from Jack Lawless. Miller struck out all three Oneonta batters in the fourth and added another run in the fifth to go ahead 3-0 when Gatchalian singled in a score from Granger. Oneonta kept the game within reach in the sixth with a double play to sophomore Ryan Cronin (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa), sophomore Joseph Monserrat (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central), and senior Nick Jacoby (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown).
Cortland put an insurance run in the eighth when Anthony Carlo singled in a run. After a pitch hit Jacoby in the eighth, senior Matt Sandoval (West Islip, NY/West Islip Senior) singled to shortstop. Senior Gavin Carlucci (Garrison, NY/Walter Panas) was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and junior Sean Clinton (New City, NY/Clarkstown South) doubled down the left-field line to bring in two runs. Carlucci scored to cut the lead to 4-3, and Oneonta tied when Rowe singled in a run from Clinton.
In the top of the ninth, junior Lukas Jachens (Cornwall, NY/Cornwall Central) struck out the lead-off batter. Karowski knocked a home run on the first pitch to left field to take a 5-4 lead. Cortland found one more run on a Talon Elkins single.
Sandoval reached first to put a runner on base in the bottom of the ninth, but two quick outs ended the comeback.
Cortland's Ryan McLaughlin (7-1) earns the win after going 1.2 innings with one hit and one strikeout.
Rowe pitched 5.0 innings with six hits, three runs, and two strikeouts.
Oneonta continues the Cortland series on Saturday, April 25 at 10 a.m.
