Cortland baseball takes Salisbury to 14 innings

Box Score

SALISBURY, MD. – Justin Teague's (North Syracuse/Cicero-North Syracuse) pinch-hit, two-run triple fueled a three-run top of the 14th as nationally top-ranked Cortland defeated 18th-ranked Salisbury, 9-6, to complete a weekend two-game sweep of the Sea Gulls. The game last four and a half hours and was the longest for the Red Dragons, in terms of innings played, since a 16-inning victory over Division II Wisconsin-Parkside on March 16, 1994 in Florida.

With one out in the 14th, Wyatt Myers (Chittenango) walked and Garrett Heaton (East Patchogue/Bellport) reached on a bunt single. Teague followed with a triple down the left field line to plate both runners, and he scored on Colin BeVard's (Syracuse/West Genesee) double to right center.

Cortland (2-0) led 5-0 after four and half innings before Salisbury (0-2) rallied to tie it. The Red Dragons scored in the third on a Matthew Personius (Binghamton/Chenango Valley) RBI single and scored four times in the fifth, three on bases-loaded walks by Paul Dondero (East Islip), Frank Vesuvio (Armonk/Byram Hills) and Heaton.

Salisbury put two runs on the board in the fifth on a Justin Meekins RBI double and Ron Villone RBI single. Cortland answered in the sixth when Matt Michalski (Buffalo/St. Francis) singled in a run, but the Sea Gulls tallied two runs in the bottom of the inning on a Dillon Waters RBI double and a Matt Padeway run-scoring groundout.

Salisbury tied the game in the bottom of the seventh as Meekins led off the inning with a solo homer and Jay Perry followed three batters later with a two-out solo shot.

The most serious scoring threat for either team over the next six innings came for Salisbury in the bottom of the 13th. Jack Parry led off with an infield single off of Noah Ernst(Catskill/Homeschooled) - the only hit he allowed in five and a third innings of relief. Steven Salisbury (Cranston, RI/Moses Brown) entered to pitch and Will Gutekunst bunted Perry to second. A groundout moved Perry to third, but Salisbury got the next hitter to ground out to third to end the threat. Salisbury retired the side in order in the 14th for the victory.

BeVard finished 4-for-5 with a double, three walks (two intentional), an RBI and three runs scored in eight plate appearances. He reached base seven straight times after flying out in the first. Personius was 4-for-8 with an RBI, Danny Coleman (Saratoga Springs) was 2-for-2 with a double and Schetter finished 2-for-8 as Cortland finished with 17 hits and left 16 runners on base.

Meekins led Salisbury's nine-hit attack with a 3-for-7 effort, including a homer and double. He drove in two and scored twice. Villone was 2-for-7.

Christian Dufresne (Cocoa, FL/Space Coast) started for Cortland and allowed two hits and no runs over four innings with five strikeouts and three walks. Ernst was the Red Dragons' fourth reliever and allowed three walks and a hit and fanned four in his five and a third innings.

Salisbury starter Wes Whitlock gave up eight hits and five runs with four strikeouts and two walks in four and a third innings. The Sea Gulls used 10 pitchers in the game, with Barry taking the loss at the end of a five and a third inning stint that concluded with Teague's two-run triple.

The teams combined to commit just one error over the 14 innings - a Salisbury throwing error in the seventh that did not factor in the game's scoring.

Cortland will play three games next weekend at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Va. The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday at 1 p.m. and a single game Sunday at noon. The Generals are currently off to a 4-1 start.