Auburn, N.Y. – The top-seeded Cortland Red Dragons (41-3) beat the third-seeded Rensselaer Red Hawks (35-11) 9-5 in Friday’s third game of the NCAA Division III baseball regional tournament hosted by Ithaca College at Auburn’s Falcon Park. The Red Dragons advance Saturday’s championship round and will play a 5 p.m. game against one of three teams (Rensselaer, fourth-seeded Montclair State or fifth-seeded Eastern Connecticut) who will emerge from the loser’s bracket. With a win in that game the Red Dragons would win the regional title and a trip to the Division III World Series; a Cortland loss would result in a winner-take-all game being played Sunday at 1 p.m. for the regional championship.
Junior centerfielder Khyle Dimino singled in the winning run to highlight a four-run Red Dragon eighth inning that broke a 5-5 tie and sent Cortland to its 37th win in a row. Senior shortstop Matt Vitalone added a two-run single and sophomore Anderson Gardner closed out the scoring with an RBI double.
Senior catcher Mike Zaccardo hit a two-run home run in the third to tie the score after the Red Hawks had taken a 2-0 lead in their first at bat. Rensselaer’s Patrick Reardon, who went four-for-five, singled in both runs.
Senior right fielder Dan Valentine drove a run for with a fifth-inning sacrifice fly and sophomore third baseman Jim Devine scored on a wild pitch as the Red Hawks tied the game at 5-5.
One batter after Devine scored, senior Ryan Hooper came in out of the Cortland bullpen; he earned the win with 4.2 innings of scoreless relief. Hooper struck out seven and allowed only four hits and one walk.
