After sweeping SUNY Fredonia last week, the 12-11 Oswego State’s men’s baseball team extended their winning streak on the road against New Paltz and The University of Rochester. 

In the opening game against the Hawks, Oswego’s Alex Conrad and New Paltz’ Billy Moeller would earn the start for their team. Both offenses would strike in the third inning scoring four runs apiece forcing both coaches to turn to their bullpen early. After a three-run fourth inning by the Lakers, the Hawks would score six unanswered runs to take a 10-7 lead. With their rally caps on, the Lakers would tie the game in the eighth inning with a home run from Jelani Hamer and take the lead after a passed ball. Pitcher Jonah Shearer would close out the game, giving the Lakers the first game of the series. 

For game two Oswego’s Kiernan Finnegan and New Paltz James Trink would take the mound. Oswego would jump on Trink in the first inning after a grand slam from Owen Parliment. Parliment went yard again in the third inning to extend the Laker’s lead to 6-0. Defensively, Finnegan shut down New Paltz, allowing one hit and striking out seven in five innings pitched. Oswego tallied six more runs to push their lead to 12-0. Lakers head coach Scott Landers would turn to Sean Clifford to secure the win. 

Oswego’s offense picked up right where it left off, tallying ten runs in the first inning to take a commanding lead in game three. After being shut out in the previous game, the New Paltz offense came alive scoring seven runs in the first half of the game but that would not be enough as Laker bats continued to stay hot. Despite out-hitting the Lakers, New Paltz would struggle defensively with six errors. The Lakers took game three 16-11, sweeping the Hawks. 

Looking at the series as a whole, Oswego outscored New Paltz 42-21 and out-hit them 35-26. Hamer would finish the series with five total hits and six RBIs. Parliment earned SUNYAC Player of the Week after tallying eight hits, nine RBIs, and six walks. Finnegan earned SUNYAC Pitcher of the Week after his dominant performance. 

Coach Landers shared his thoughts on Parliment’s performance against the Hawks. 

“He has helped us a lot, he came in as a pitcher from Division One but we needed his bat more than his arm,” Landers said. “He has been getting better and bringing his strikeouts down.” 

After back-to-back sweeps, the Lakers went on the road for one game against the Yellow Jackets. Coach Landers gave the starting nod to relief pitcher Thomas Pecchia. The Lakers struck in the first inning off a three-run double from Hamer, but Rochester took advantage of a Lakers error and scored three runs, two unearned. Both offenses scored three runs in the fifth inning, but Oswego took the lead in the sixth inning after two straight fielder-choice plays. 

Pitcher Devon Campell took the mound in relief for Oswego with an 11-8 lead but gave up two runs on back-to-back hits to help the Yellow Jackets pull within one run. In the top of the ninth inning, Frank Levanti gave the Lakers an insurance run to extend the Lakers lead back up to two. In the bottom of the ninth, Clifford was called in to get the last three outs and help the Lakers secure a 12-10 win.

Oswego took advantage of the Yellow Jacket’s five errors as they scored 12 total runs, six being unearned, on six hits. The Lakers also struggled defensively with four errors. Hamer continued to keep his bat hot with six RBIs on two hits. Starting pitcher Pecchia gave up two earned runs on five hits over three innings. 

Pecchia, coming off his best performance in the last few weeks, shared his thoughts on how he has been playing this season. 

“I feel like I am leaving too many things over the middle and not making pitchers when I need to on 1-2 and 0-2 counts,” Pecchia said. “But I just gotta bear down, toughen up and trust my defense more.” 

After defeating the Yellowjackets the Lakers pushed their win streak to seven games and now sit with a record of 12-11 after a 1-6 start to the season. 

In their next series, the Lakers will take on the 14-11 St. John Fisher University. The first game will be on the road at 3 p.m. on April 14 at Rochester. Games two and three will be a home doubleheader on April 15.

Photo via: Oswego Athletics