Regular Season Recap

The Oswego State Lakers and SUNY Cortland Red Dragons are facing off at a critical point during the regular season. The weather has not been kind to either team, as well. With numerous cancelled and postponed games, a lot of the season has been practices inside and neutral field games to play on turf fields.

The Lakers got off to a much slower than most expected start during their spring break trip to Florida during the 2018 RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. However, after the three aces on for the weekend rotation, Robert Donnelly, Reston Pettit and Brian Nolan, got settled in their spots, and the bats of Mike Dellicarri and Ryan Enos started to get hot, Oswego State’s season truly began.

Oswego State won all but one conference series throughout the regular season. The Lakers fell two games to one at the hands of The College at Brockport on April 13 and 14. The loss ruined the team’s streak of conference series wins since 2016 when the Red Dragons swept the Lakers 3-0. After gaining confidence back during the series against Plattsburgh State, the Lakers will look to take one more series heading into the postseason.

On the other side of the field, SUNY Cortland has sat on top of the SUNYAC baseball standings all season long. The Red Dragons were on a 20-game win streak before losing to SUNY New Paltz on April 22.

Justin Teague and Patrick Schetter lead the team in RBI with 35 and 34, respectively. Schetter has also played and started all 36 games for the Red Dragons this season, the only player to do so on the roster. Mike Harrington leads the pitching staff with a 7-0 record, marking a 1.87 ERA and a .187 batting against average.

What’s On the Line?

SUNY Cortland and Oswego State are the top two teams in the SUNYAC, with extremely close conference records. Depending on who wins the series, either 2-1 or 3-0, that team will host the SUNYAC tournament.

In 2016, the Red Dragons hosted the tournament en route to a SUNYAC title and an NCAA Div. III College World Series appearance. The Lakers were supposed to hold the tournament in 2017, but due to weather, Oswego State was given the title without a tournament appearance. The team would eventually head to the NCAA Div. III College World Series, as well that season.

After the 3-0 sweep against Plattsburgh State, the Lakers are only one game behind the Red Dragons. The Lakers sit at 12-3 in conference, and 21-9 overall.

But thanks to SUNY New Paltz, the Red Dragons lost their final game of the series to drop their record. SUNY Cortland has a 13-2 conference record, with a 28-8 overall.

Season Statistics

RECORD (conference) [OSW: home / COR: away] {all-time vs. each other, since 2005}

OSW: 21-9 (12-3) [5-3] {8-31}

COR: 28-8 (13-2) [6-5] {31-8}

BATTING AVERAGE (conference)

OSW: .303 (.313)

COR: .304 (.320)

TOTAL RUNS (per game)

OSW: 246 (8.2)

COR: 288 (8.0)

FIELDING PERCENTAGE (errors / per game)

OSW: .937 (70 / 2.3)

COR: .978 (30 / 0.83)

EARNED RUNS AGAINST (average)

OSW: 100 (3.33)

COR: 75 (2.08)

Lakers vs. Red Dragons Last Season

Series Win: Oswego State wins 2-1 (8-5, 5-3, 3-5 [11 inn.])

RUNS (per game)

OSW: 16 (5.3)

COR: 13 (4.3)

HITS (per game)

OSW: 24 (8.0)

COR: 29 (9.7)

PITCHING STRIKEOUTS (per game)

OSW: 21 (7.0)

COR: 13 (4.3)

Projected Pitching Rotation

For Oswego State, throughout the season the three aces of Robert Donnelly, Brian Nolan and Reston Pettit have dominated the game. A player like Donnelly, who has pitched five complete games this season with a 1.58 ERA, will be crucial in this series.

Nolan had a rough outing during the series against The College at Brockport, head coach Scott Landers said. Nolan only pitched 1 1-3 innings but gave up five runs, four of which were earned. However, he was able to bounce back against Plattsburgh State during the third game of the series en route to an 11-2 win over the Cardinals.

Pettit has flown under the radar for most series this season, especially since he plays the first game of the doubleheader and is usually outshone by Donnelly in the next game. His strong play, which includes 39 strikeouts, has brought the Lakers great success coming into the weekend.

Expect Mike Harrington to play at least one game during the series each. He, based purely on the stat sheet, has been the strongest weekend player for the Red Dragons. In the conference, he has totalled 30 innings pitched, and a 1.20 ERA as well as a .171 batting average against. Harrington has played the second game of the doubleheader for the past couple weeks with SUNY Cortland, so he could matchup against Nolan.

It is hard to say who will play the first and third games for the Red Dragons since they seem to have split all of the other games. However, Jake Casey and Christian Dufresne might take the mound with four and five games started, respectively. Last week against SUNY New Paltz, Steven Salisbury (W 6-3) and Frank Vesuvio (L 8-6) replaced their starting pitchers. It could relate to this weekend.

Who Needs to Show Up?

OSW: Brandon Nicholson

All season long, between the bats of Mike Dellicarri, Ryan Enos and John Barnes, the offense has been supplemented offensively. The fielding and pitching have also been key, despite early season concerns with the amount of errors that the Lakers earned.

One name that everyone expected to be up there on the bats was Brandon Nicholson, the transfer from NCAA Div. I Canisius College. In late February, Nicholson was extremely strong with a home run and five RBI. He has had some games where the bat is pretty hot, including the comeback win against the University of Rochester on April 11 where he went 4-5 with 2 RBI.

However, in order for the Lakers to be successful against SUNY Cortland, Nicholson is going to have to be a consistent performer all season long. The rivalry may be new to Nicholson since he is new to the SUNYAC and Oswego State, but it will not take long for him to realize the intensity.

COR: Matthew Personius

It is hard to say who a player off of the SUNY Cortland team is that needs to show up and perform. The Red Dragons have a lot of dominating players, but Personius, based purely off of the Red Dragons’ stat sheet, is a player that has not performed well in the last couple of weeks.

After performing well under the sun against teams from Maryland and Virginia, like the dropping weather of New York, so did his performance. As of April 26, he has not had a hit since April 18 against SUNY Canton – four games hitless. However, he has been backed up by the likes of Joe Tardif and Antonia Pragana, who lead the team in multiple categories offensively.

Personius has had his bursts of energy with SUNY Cortland, contributing in clutch moments, but it is his consistency that will be crucial in the series against the Lakers. The senior will want to close out his final regular season strong against Oswego State and hopefully head into the postseason with home field advantage.

Who to Watch For

OSW: John Barnes

John Barnes does not get his name on every headline due to his performance. But it is his consistency and leadership that help the Lakers time and time again. With all of this energy, especially after a couple crucial losses to Ithaca College and The College at Brockport, Barnes should have an outbreak game.

Barnes was a key player in the comeback victory over the University of Rochester on April 11, adding a hit and a run in the eighth inning. His speed and batting have been key all season, as he leads the team with five triples, along with Mike Dellicarri.

COR: Patrick Schetter

Like John Barnes, Patrick Schetter has been a consistent senior for the Red Dragons. He is the only player on the roster to not only play in all 36 games this season but also start in all of them. He played in 45 of the 48 games the Red Dragons had last season, so this is not a new thing for the senior.

There have only been four games this season where he has gone hitless, and only three games where he has been prevented from getting on base. Schetter is fourth on the team with a .355 batting average and leads the team in hits and RBI. As a four-year member of the Red Dragons, and knowing what is on the line this weekend, Schetter should be a large factor in the series.

Predictions

Matt Watling, Incoming Asst. Sports Editor (@MattWatling99)

Prediction: Oswego State wins series 2-1 (Lakers win Game 2 & 3, but lose Game 1)

Reason: Between Robert Donnelly’s strong ability on the mound this season, as well as the other two weekend pitchers (Brian Nolan and Reston Pettit), the Lakers have a strong chance to take the series win. SUNY Cortland does have an offensive advantage, Oswego State’s Mike Dellicarri and Ryan Enos will be able to match the strong offense of the Red Dragons. The Lakers have more of a balanced team on the offense and defense, leading them to a 2-1 series win over SUNY Cortland en route to host the SUNYAC tournament.

Ben Grieco, Incoming Sports Editor (@BenGriecoSports)

Prediction: Oswego State wins series 2-1 (Lakers win Game 1 & 2, but lose Game 3)

Reason: SUNY Cortland is still, kind of, rolling on the momentum of its 20-game win streak that ended abruptly against SUNY New Paltz. But, the following loss to Hamilton College can work two ways: either knocking all confidence from the Red Dragons or boosting them to get back into the win column. The Lakers’ pitching staff will be key this weekend, but the ultimate factor is going to be fielding. Can Oswego State avoid the errors? If fielding is strong, and the Lakers do not wait until late to attempt to rally back a large deficit, this series could be interesting. But, Oswego State will take a slight advantage and be able to claim home field advantage for the postseason. The doubleheader pitching staff of Robert Donnelly and Reston Pettit will be strong in the opening matchups, but Nolan, who is quite honestly the weaker of the three pitchers, will probably have a tough time keeping up with the Red Dragons. The bats will fly from Mike Dellicarri in Game 1 and 2, but it is hard to see what will happen in Game 3. 

Luke Scoville, Sports Editor (@LScovs12)

Prediction: Oswego State wins series 2-1 (Lakers win Game 1 & 2, lose Game 3)

Reason: Friday’s doubleheader of the three-game series will be critical, obviously.  The Lakers have been able to rely on starter Reston Pettit and the bullpen to get the job done in Game 1 of SUNYAC doubleheaders this season and turn to Robert Donnelly to go the distance in the seven-inning Game 2s. Donnelly has been mostly successful this season, going 5-1, and bounced back from his lone loss to The College at Brockport with another shutout over Plattsburgh State last weekend. Donnelly went 9 innings strong last season against the Red Dragons, but the Lakers fell in extras 5-3 in their lone loss of the series. The pitching staff has received poor support at times this season from their defense with countless errors. Although that has improved with only two total errors in the last four games. Middle of the lineup guys like Mike Dellicarri and John Barnes, who thrive in these types of games, will need to provide sparks for the offense and carry momentum to the defense. Look for Laker designated hitter Myles Kutscher, who is batting 10-20 with 6 RBI the last 7 games, to come up big for his team when needed.

Photo: Kyle Hurley | The Oswegonian