TOURNAMENT PAGE  |  BRACKET

OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Oswego State baseball team has earned the No. 3 seed to the 2014 SUNYAC Championship that will take place on Friday, May 2 until a winner is determined on Sunday, May 4. Oswego will face No. 2 Brockport at 3:30 p.m. on Friday.
 
It is the second-straight appearance in the Championship for the Lakers, who finished second last season. The back-to-back trip is the first time Oswego has attained that feat since 1997, which was the end of five-year span in the tournament field.
 
Cortland will host the three-day event as the Red Dragons have nabbed the No. 1 seed with their 15-3 conference mark. The final spot in this year's Championship was garnered by Oneonta. The two Red Dragon squads will face each other to kick-off the tournament at 12 p.m. on Friday.
 
Brockport and Oswego have met three times this season, with the Golden Eagles holding the season series 2-1. The games came early in the year as the Lakers and Golden Eagles opened their SUNYAC schedules with three games in a two-day span on their spring break trips to the 2014 Russmatt Central Florida Invitational.
 
On the first day, the two groups met for a doubleheader in Lake Myrtle, Fla. Brockport took the first game 6-2 in 12 innings, scoring five runs in the final inning to secure the win. The Lakers bounced back in the nightcap with a 5-0 seven-inning shutout win. The following day would belong to Brockport as it took the regular season series, beating Oswego 19-4 at the Chain of Lakes Park in Winter Haven, Fla.
 
Since those games, Oswego has gone 3-1 against nationally-ranked teams, including two wins and the regular season series over Cortland. In the first regional rankings released last Thursday, Oswego was No. 3, trailing only the Red Dragons and Ithaca College. The Lakers hold an 1-0 advantage over the Bombers in head-to-head competitions this season and are slated to meet them again on May 11.  
 
Oswego will look to a few players for leadership over the weekend, starting with senior Scott Buniak. Buniak currently leads the team with a .385 batting average, 40 hits, 16 stolen bases and 7 doubles. He is second on the team with 14 walks and has 12 RBI on the year. In the field, the centerfielder is perfect on 77 chances, catching 73 putouts while assisting on four other outs.
 
The leadership on the mound will come from transfer-junior Brendyn Karinchak, who leads the Lakers with a 1.73 ERA. Karinchak holds a 4-1 record in seven starts and 52 innings pitched. He also leads the team in strikeouts (38) and opponent's batting average (.261).
 
For ways to follow the action over the weekend, please click on the tournament page link at the top of the article. Also, make sure to follow @OswegoAthletics on Twitter for scoring updates and information surrounding the tournament.