The Oswego State baseball team suffered a 19-8 loss to Division I Claflin before wrapping up its Spring Break trip to South Carolina with four wins over NAIA-affiliated Voorhees College and a pair of victories over CUNY John Jay. The six consecutive victories helped the Lakers move to 6-3 on the season before opening SUNY Athletic Conference play against Cortland on Saturday at 12 p.m. in Oswego.
Against Claflin, Oswego State kept pace with the home team trailing 8-6 heading into the fourth inning. However, the Panthers out-scored the Lakers 8-1 in the next three innings after scattering 11 hits and taking advantage of two errors to cruise to the 19-8 victory. Mike Levy (Sr., Salisbury Mills, N.Y.) and Kane Share (So., Brockport, N.Y.) posted two hits and scored two runs each for Oswego State.
In their first game versus Voorhees, the Lakers found themselves trailing 5-0 after five innings before staging a comeback in the top of the sixth inning. With one out, Jon Stevens (Fr., Chittenango, N.Y.) started the at-bat after getting hit by a pitch followed by a pair of singles to start a four-run rally to cut the lead to 5-4. Oswego State forced the game into extra innings after Dave Widrick (Sr., Lowville, N.Y.) doubled in Mike Tarnowski (Fr., Dunkirk, N.Y.) from first base. In the top of the eighth, four straight Laker batters reached base to trigger a five-run inning as Oswego State grabbed a 10-5 lead. Voorhees added two runs in the bottom of the eighth, but it would not be enough.
The nightcap started as a pitchers' duel until the Lakers crossed home plate five times in the top of the fourth. With the bases loaded, Rafael Cordero (Jr., Utica, N.Y.) delivered the key hit of the inning when his single followed by an error by the second baseman cleared the base path for Oswego State. The inning proved to be the difference in a 7-3 final score.
On the next day, the Lakers utilized another big inning late in the game to defeat Voorhees 18-10. The first six Oswego State batters in the top of the sixth inning before Levy broke open the contest with a triple with the bases loaded and zero outs. Before the inning was over, the Lakers had touched home plate nine times to seize an 18-10 lead, which was the final score.
Oswego State raced out to 5-0 lead after its first at-bat in the final game of the Voorhees doubleheaders, which was more than enough run support for freshman pitcher Jon Stevens. Stevens went on to hurl a four-hit, three-strikeout complete game for the Lakers as only two Voorhees players reached second base during the game. Matt Deveney (Sr., North Syracuse, N.Y.) led Oswego State at the plate going 2-for-2 with three RBI, while Andrew Lazzaro (So., Oswego, N.Y.) went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI.
The Lakers continued their winning ways before returning to Oswego by defeating CUNY John Jay by the scores of 8-2 and 11-2 on Sunday. Oswego State scored seven runs in the first three innings before junior Marc Peterson (Geneseo, N.Y.) settled into a groove on the mound, shutting down John Jay. Peterson finished with a complete game, scattering six hits and striking out five. Offensively, Dave Mazzullo (So., Rochester, N.Y.) and Bryan Stark (Sr., Rochester, N.Y.) delivered two hits each, while Mazzullo scored two runs as well. Kris Prikazsky (So., Endicott, N.Y.) also drove in two runs.
In game two of the doubleheader, the Lakers received another solid pitching performance from Dan Erne (Fr., Rochester, N.Y.). Erne struck out six batters an gave up eight singles. Oswego State held a tenuous 2-0 lead at the start of the fifth inning before breaking the game wide open with nine runs over the next two at-bats. Mazzullo was perfect at the plate going 3-for-3, driving in three runs, and scoring two. Cordero also had a strong game in the batter's box with two hits, runs scored, and runs batted in.
Claflin Box Score
Voorhees Game 1 Box Score
Voorhees Game 2 Box Score
Voorhees Game 3 Box Score
Voorhees Game 4 Box Score
CUNY John Jay Game 1 Box Score
CUNY John Jay Game 2 Box Score
