The Oswego State Lakers played the Fredonia Blue Devils in a doubleheader matchup Saturday for their senior day.
Oswego State (23-6, 14-2 SUNYAC) won both games adding to its 11-4 win on Friday in the three-game series with the Blue Devils (9-16, 4-9 SUNYAC).
The Lakers won game one by a score of 3-1 in a matchup that put Oswego State’s Miles Kelly (W, 5-1) up against SUNY Fredonia’s Jake Harford (L, 0-4). Kelly let up one run on seven hits and struck out two batters in six innings. Harford pitched five innings, letting up two runs on five hits and two walks and he struck out two batters.
With two outs in the top of the fourth the Blue Devils took a one-run lead. Outfielder Kenny Johnston singled to left and then moved to third thanks to a single from catcher Dan Cecilia. Outfielder Vincent Sherman singled to left bringing in Johnston, scoring the only run of the game for SUNY Fredonia.
The Lakers’ bats were relatively quiet early on with only four hits until the sixth inning. Outfielder Dan Saccocio walked to lead off the inning. Then, designated hitter Brian Hamilton singled through a gap on the left side putting runners on first and second with no outs.
At this point, Zach Kollar came in to pinch run for Brian Hamilton and the Blue Devils made a pitching change, bringing in Joe DiLeo to face third basemen Eric Hamilton. Eric Hamilton sacrifice bunted moving Saccocio to third and Kollar to second. This brought outfielder Myles Kutscher to the plate. Kutscher sent a ball over the wall for a three-run homer, bringing in Saccocio and Kollar, giving the Lakers the 3-1 lead.
Coming in to close the game in the top of the seventh for the Lakers was Mickey Putillo (1-1), who earned his fifth save on the season. Putillo sent the Blue Devils packing in the order they came to the plate with a ground out followed by two striekouts.
Game two followed with the Lakers taking a 12-11 win with another game-winning home run from Myles Kutscher.
The Lakers started Tim Cronin (3-1), who pitched 3.1 innings, allowed four runs (two earned) on 10 hits, hitting one batter and striking out one. The Blue Devils pitched Steve Sturm (1-0), who only pitched one inning in the outing. He struck out one batter and let up five runs on six hits, walked one batter and hit another.
The Blue Devils took an early lead in the first inning when designated hitter Ricky Mendiola singled down the left field line bringing in outfielder Ryan Carmody. The Lakers struck back with five runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning.
Outfielder Wes Randall reached first base with a bunt and moved over to third thanks to a single from Eric Hmilton. Kutscher was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for Jordan Giller, who singled through a gap up the middle, driving in two runs. Brian Hamilton then doubled to left field allowing two more runs to score. A single from Kollar and a walk from Joe Paskevich loaded the bases. With two outs in the inning, Saccocio singled to left allowing Brian Hamilton to score.
SUNY Fredonia scored two runs in the third inning due to a single from Mendiola and an error. The Lakers answered by adding one more run to their lead in their next at bat with a single from Randall. Both teams scored runs in the fourth inning to make the score 7-4 Lakers. Oswego State pushed its lead to 8-4 in the seventh inning, but that was not enough to hold off the Blue Devils.
With Pat Brown on the mound in the top of the eighth inning, the Blue Devils began a seven-run rally. First baseman Michael Prentice singled to center, third baseman Kyle Sherman singled through the left side and shortstop Erik Krohl did the same loading the bases with no outs. Putillo came in to relieve Brown and face Carmody, who walked making the score 8-5. Second basemen Ciro Frontale singled to left driving in a run. Mendiola doubled to left, driving in two more, tying the game up. Johnston singled to center and gave the Bue Devils the lead.
Brown had shined in 3.2 innings pitched, only allowing three runs on three hits and striking out three.
Oswego State pulled Putillo for Andy Stuart amid the SUNY Fredonia rally. Stuart let up one run before getting out of the inning where the Blue Devils took an 11-8 lead. Looking for a comeback of their own, the Lakers had runners on first and second with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. Robert Donnelly doubled to center allowing two runs to score cutting down the Blue Devil lead to 11-10.
Cody Laflamme (W, 1-0) came in to shut down SUNY Fredonia’s bats and keep any chance of winning for the Lakers alive. He sent the Blue Devils down in 1-2-3 fasion sending the Lakers to the plate in the bottom of the ninth.
Matt Wilhelm (L, 1-4) took the mound for SUNY Fredonia looking to close out the game and avoid a sweep.
Saccocio led things off for the Lakers and was hit by a pitch. Next, Randall reached on a bunt, but Saccocio was thrown out trying to advance to third base. Then, Eric Hamilton reached on a fielder’s choice.
With two outs and on their last bit of hope, the Lakers sent Kutscher to the plate trailing 11-10. Kutscher went yard for the second time on the day and was mobbed by his teammates as he came home. The Lakers won 12-10.
Kutscher went 2 for 7 in the doubleheader with two home runs and five RBIs. He now has three home runs on the season and is batting .359. Brian Hamilton went 5 for 8 with two RBIs and improves his batting average to .410.
The Lakers return to action on Tuesday, April 21 at noon with a doubleheader against No. 1 SUNY Cortland (27-2, 12-1 SUNYAC). The Red Dragons are two games behind the Lakers for the top spot in the conference heading into the matchup.
