St. John Fisher College finished second in the New York Regional of the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship,
as the Cardinals dropped a 7-6 decision to top-seeded SUNY Cortland on Saturday at Falcon Park in Auburn, NY.
With the loss, No. 2 Fisher finishes its season with a 31-14 overall record. It is the most wins in the program’s 23-year history and is the deepest the Cardinals have ever advanced in an NCAA Division III Championship Regional.
With the win, SUNY Cortland advances to next week’s Division III College World Series in Appleton, Wisconsin.
Fisher trailed 6-2 going into the final inning, but managed to tie the game with some late-inning heroics yet again.
With runners on the corners,
Ryan Shaughnessy singled to center field to score Pettinella to make it 6-5.
Jason Nevada, who struck out with the bases loaded in the eighth inning, redeemed himself with a single to right, scoring pinch runner
Andrew Van Slyke and tying the game at 6-6.
In the bottom of the ninth, Cortland’s Matt June walked to start the frame. With two outs, Steve Nickel blooped in a single to center to move June to third and Jason Simone singled past a diving shortstop to end the game.
Fisher jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Nevada singled to left to score Pettinella.
Ben Bostick then hit one up the middle to score
Matt Klock, who reached after being hit by a pitch.
The Red Dragons took the lead with four runs in the third inning, all of which came with two outs. With runners on first and second, Andersen Gardner doubled down the right-field line, tying the game at 2-2. The very next batter, Steve Nickel, made it 4-2, with a two-run homer to left.
Cortland tacked on runs in the runs in the fifth and seventh inning, pushing its lead to 6-2.
Fisher out-hit Cortland 15-12 and left 13 runners on base, while the Red Dragons stranded just six.