No. 4 in Division III baseball national rankings Oswego State Lakers hosted the No. 1 Cortland State Red Dragons in Game 1 of their three game weekend series here in Oswego. The Lakers going into today held a two game advantage in the SUNYAC rankings, but drop the lead to one game after losing to the Red Dragons 8-1 in 9 innings in today’s contest.

Red Dragons starter on the hill Seth Lamando went the distance for the complete game win. He struck out 8 batters on 5 hits, and no walks.

Offensively it was a complete team effort for the Red Dragons, and it started off quickly in the first inning when leadoff batter Paul Dondero blasted a solo homer off Lakers starter Brian Nolan for the 1-0 lead.

In the top of the third, Nick Hart led things off with a single to left field. With 1 out Conrad Ziemendorf singles and advances Hart to make it runners on the corners. Austin Clock drives in the run on a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0 Red Dragons lead.

Red Dragons struck again the next inning, beginning with a lead off single from Steven Figueroa up the middle. Connor Griffin’s sacrifice bunt attempt is denied on perfectly executed bunt defense by Eric Hamilton, who throws out Figueroa for the force out at second. Griffin who advanced on Justin Teague’s walk, gets driven in by Dondero for his second RBI of the game to make it a 3-0 lead. Nolan and his Lakers defense get out of the jam on a unique double play that ended in Teague getting thrown out at the plate by Jordan Giller.

Lakers finally get on the board in the bottom of the 5th with a 1 out solo home run by John Barnes. Lamando responds with forcing two quick ground outs to end the inning.

Now with the lead cut to 3-1, the Red Dragons offense responds with their biggest inning of the game. The bases get loaded on a lead off single from Figeuroa and walks from Griffin and Teague.

Nolan’s day was over from there and he gets replaced by Cody LaFlamme, who has to go against a bases loaded no out jam. Eric Hamilton gets the force out at home on a ground ball by Dondero, but with 1 out Hart drives in Griffin and Teague to extend the lead to 5-1. With 2 outs they tack on two more with a double by Ziemendorf, Clock then flew out to end the half inning.

Leading 7-1 in the 8th, Fabio Ricci sacrifice flies out to right, John Barnes throw attempt was cut off by Jordan Giller to double up Hart at second to end the inning.

With the lead 8-1 heading into the bottom of 9, Seth Lamando trots out for the complete game bid, despite letting two on early, he strikes out Eric Hamilton and Matt Kutscher, and completes the game on a Jordan Giller  ground out.

The former Coastal Carolina Chanticleer Seth Lamando was nearly untouchable on the mound for the Red Dragons, he filled up the strike zone all day, allowing no walks, and kept the pitch count consistently low all game.

Lakers at the plate bit on the early pitches Lamando fed them, but they struggled to find gaps whenever they would put it in play.

Lamando more impressively was able to get the best of hot hitting Eric Hamilton, he struck him out three times and also popped him up.

Brian Nolan tossed five innings in the loss, letting up six earned runs on four walks and four strikeouts.

Relievers Cody LaFlamme and Brandon Schultzkie went 2 innings each, LaFlamme let up 2 earned runs.

Paul Dondero and Conrad Ziemendorf each went 3-5 with two RBI’s, and Nick Hart went 2-5 with two RBI’s.

Today’s match up proved to be no friendly rivalry, both teams benches cleared on a few occasions but no brawl ever took place. John Barnes throw out attempt in the 6th inning on Hart’s single lead to a scuffle between Lakers catcher Collin Thompson and the baserunner Justin Teague.

Teague and Thompson met again in the 8th at a play at home plate. Teague was thrown out on the plate, and was shaken up on the collison with Thompson, causing disagreement between both sides.

A lot is at stake as the series continues tomorrow with a crucial doubleheader. Lakers can maintain a lead in the SUNYAC standings with at least one win, but have some adjustments to do after today’s disappointing performance.

Red Dragons look to stay hot with their 8 game winning streak and take control of SUNYAC. The two teams who squared off in last years SUNYAC Championship series are battling for home field advantage, with College of Brockport still not out of it either.

The first game of the double header between No.4 Oswego State and No. 1 Cortland State is set for noon tomorrow at Laker Baseball field.