CORTLAND, N.Y. – Cortland scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning and defeated visiting Utica College, 12-4, in a non-league matchup at Wallace Field. Twelve different players recorded at least one hit for the Red Dragons (26-12), who out-hit the Pioneers by a 16-6 margin.
Freshman Brendan Hourihan (Yorktown Heights/Lakeland), the first of five Cortland pitchers, earned his first collegiate victory. He allowed one hit, three walks and one run in three and a third innings with one strikeout. Hourihan was awarded the win despite not pitching five innings per NCAA rule since Cortland pre-arranged to throw at least three pitchers in the game and he was the pitcher of record when he exited.
Sophomore Nick Faust (Massapequa/St. Anthony's) hit a solo homer and finished 2-for-4 with two RBI. Junior Steve Nickel (Lake Ronkonkoma/Sachem North) was 2-for-3 with a triple, double, RBI and two runs scored. Senior Mike Avery (Cortland) was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and sophomore Matt Papillo (Bellmore/Mepham) finished 2-for-4. Nickel Junior Kevin Jackson (Wappingers Falls/Roy C. Ketcham) and sophomore Andrew Pezzuto (Hastings) each drove in two runs.
Justin Buckley (Mexico) led Utica (5-23) with a 2-for-4 performance with two RBI. Mike Clark (Fulton) was 1-for-2 with a walk. Mike Sadallah (New Hartford) took the loss after allowing eight runs, six earned, in two and two-third innings.
Cortland scored its five first-inning runs over a stretch of five batters. With runners on first and second, Jackson singled in a run and Nickel followed with an RBI double to right. Pezzuto drove in a run with a groundout and Papillo singled to right to score Nickel. Papillo took third on an error during the play and scored on a Faust RBI single to right.
Utica got a run back in the second on a Buckley RBI single. The Pioneers had the bases loaded with one out after a walk to Clark, but Hourihan got a double play grounder to end the threat. In the bottom of the inning, Zach Reynolds (Yorktown) walked and stole second. Avery singled with one out, and a wild throw from the outfield allowed Reynolds to score and Avery to go to third. Jackson grounded out to short to drive in Avery and Cortland led 7-1.
Cortland added a run in the third on Faust's homer and another in the fourth when Nickel tripled with one out and scored on a Pezzuto double. Utica notched a run in the sixth when Kelvin Cabrera walked, took second on a wild pitch, went to third on a groundout and scored on another wild pitch. The Pioneers also scored on a Jon Meyer (Pittsford/Pittsford Sutherland) RBI single with two outs in the seventh and on a Buckley RBI fielder's choice in the eighth.
Shawn Bailey (Rochester/Webster Schroeder) drove in a Cortland run in the seventh with a single through the left side. The Red Dragons completed the scoring in the eighth with two runs – one on a wild pitch and the other on a pinch-hit RBI single to center by senior Brendan Rowlands (Utica/Utica Notre Dame). A pitcher for Cortland, Rowlands recorded the hit in his first collegiate plate appearance.
