SUNY Cortland Sport Clubs

May 8-10, 2009
Oneonta, NY

After winning the North division of the North Atlantic Region, the SUNY Cortland baseball club advanced to the regional tournament at Oneonta. Pittsburgh, Lafayette, and Penn State also qualified to participate in the tournament. Cortland was seeded third in the four team field.
On Friday afternoon, Cortland kicked off their first post-season appearance with a 4-1 loss to Pittsburgh. Greg Thides RBI single in the top of the 1st was the only run scored by the Red Dragons. The loss dropped the club into the losers bracket and a matchup against top-seeded Lafayette on Saturday morning.

In their 1st elimination game, Cortland got a 7-inning complete game performance from Toby MacCart. MacCart allowed 3 earned runs, struck out 4, and did not walk a single batter as Cortland eliminated Lafayette by a score of 8-3. PJ Keil and Alex Santa each had 2 RBIs in the win.

With the win, Cortland advanced to the regional semi-finals and a rematch with first-round opponent Pittsburgh. The second time around, Cortland would get the upper hand on Pittsburgh, defeating the Panthers 5-4 in a game that took two days to complete. Freshman Mike Schapp pitched 4 innings giving up 2 earned runs. Trailing 2-1 in the 5th, the Red Dragons loaded the bases with nobody out. PJ Keil was hit by a pitch, allowing a runner to score and tying the game at 2. Senior Mike Torres singled in the next AB to put Cortland ahead 3-2. The game was then suspended for the evening due to rain and resumed on Sunday morning. Cortland added two more runs in the inning to take a 5-2 lead and held on for the 5-4 victory. Ed Gitlitz pitched the remainder of the game, and Cortland advanced to the regional final to meet Penn State.

Penn State came into the game ranked 16th in the country and looked to return to the NCBA World Series for the 4th consecutive year. The Nittany Lions would get the job done against a very tired Cortland pitching staff. Coming off a short outing earlier in the day, Cortland’s Ed Gitlitz pitched 5 strong innings allowing 5 runs, but Penn State proved to be too much to handle for the Red Dragons, as they scored 14 times in 9 innings, ending Cortland’s season with a 14-2 win. Gabe Schaub and Steve Campbell had the club’s only RBIs in the loss.

With the loss, Cortland finishes the 2008-2009 season with an overall record of 17-7 and a 2nd place finish in the North Atlantic region. Congratulations to the SUNY Cortland baseball club on an outstanding year!

April 16-18, 2009
Cary, NC

The SUNY Cortland softball club competed at the 2009 NCSA World Series for the second consecutive season, after finishing their season 11-1 and wrapping up the automatic bid to the post-season tournament.

Entering the tournament, Cortland was seeded 7th in the 16-team field and was placed in a four-team pool with Navy, Air Force, and Kansas State. On Thursday, Cortland opened up pool play with a hard-fought 6-5 loss to Air Force. In the afternoon game, the Red Dragons used an offensive explosion to hold off Navy 22-20 in a 3+ hour game. In the nightcap, Cortland was exhausted and lost to Kansas State in a blowout, 18-0, to finish pool play with an overall record of 1-2 heading into Friday competition.

In double-elimination tournament play on Friday, Cortland earned a 9 seed and faced off against 8th seeded Ohio State. The club dropped the game 6-2 and fell into the losers bracket where they met up with the previous day’s opponent, Kansas State. The second time around, Cortland played well, but not well enough, falling to KSU 4-2 and eliminating them from the tournament. Cortland finished with a tournament record of 1-4. Despite the losses, Cortland did improve on last year’s 0-5 performance and hopes to return to the tournament next season. Congratulations to the SUNY Cortland softball club on an impressive season and a conference championship!

May 3, 2009
Cortland, NY

Cortland took 2 out of 3 games versus division opponent UMass to win the North Atlantic - North division and secure a place in the NCBA Regional Championships in Oneonta.

In their first game, Cortland got ahead quickly thanks to a 3-run homerun in the first inning courtesy of Mike Torres. Alex Santa homered in the second, and Cortland went on to mercy UMass 11-1 in 5 innings behind Josh Britt’s 5 innings of solid pitching.

The second game of the double-header went to UMass. Despite a homerun by Cortland’s Tim Holder, UMass still took the early lead, and went on to win 17-2.

In the final game on Sunday, Cortland fell behind early 8-0, but fought back quickly with the help of Matt Michell’s grand slam in the 6th. Cortland tied the game 13-13 in the 8th inning and won it in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the 12th on Gabe Schaub’s walk off RBI single. Mike Schepp earned the win by pitching 6 and 2/3 innings in relief giving up only 1 run.

The division crown is Cortland’s first in school history and sends them to represent the North Atlantic - North division of the NCBA at the regional tournament in Oneonta this weekend. Check back next week for updated results from the tournament. Congratulations to the SUNY Cortland baseball club on the conference championship!

May 3, 2009
Charlottesville, VA

For the second straight year, the SUNY Cortland men’s lacrosse club has won the NCLL D-II National Championship. And for the second straight year, Cortland had to defeat Lynchburg College in the playoffs. The Red Dragons won four playoff games en route to the championship, defeating Canisius College at home before heading down to Charlottesville, VA and the campus of the University of Virginia for the final three contests.

On Saturday afternoon, Cortland scored early and often as they defeated the College of New Jersey easily, 20-6. Later that evening, the club secured a berth in the championship game with a narrow 12-9 victory over Slippery Rock University. The wins advanced Cortland to the championship game where they met Lynchburg in a rematch of the 2008 semi-final match, which Cortland won 11-9.

Fueled by three goals from Cortland’s Kevin Keown, the club jumped out to an early lead. Lycnhburg would rally late, but Cortland used exceptional performances by Brendan Grace (2 G, 2 A) and attackman John Grosse to stem the rally and secure the victory. Final score: Cortland 12, Lynchburg 9.

Six Cortland players were selected to the NCLL D-II All-Tournament team. They are: John Grosse, attack; Aaron Zajac, midfield; Brendan Grace, midfield; Kevin Keown, midfield; Brian Pesner, defense; and Chris Baicco, defense. Additionally, Brendan Grace was selected as the NCLL D-II Final Four MVP.

The D-II championship is Cortland’s second consecutive title and third in the last four years. Including playoffs, Cortland finished the spring season with a perfect 10-0 record. Congratulations to the SUNY Cortland men’s lacrosse club on another impressive season!