Box Score

Purchase, NY (Mar. 27, 2014) – A six-run fifth inning was the difference Thursday at Purchase as SUNY Cortland earned an 8-3 win. 

Purchase led early, but the Red Dragon clawed back and after tying the game in the fifth, broke open the score with a game-changing inning that the Panthers never rebounded from. Cortland snapped the 2-2 stalemate in the fifth behind a six-run frame and closed the game with single-run in the eighth. Purchase scratched across a single-run of its own in the bottom of the eighth, but the damage had been done.   

The afternoon started strong for Purchase. In the second inning, Purchase jumped on the board first thanks to an RBI sacrifice bunt by Dan Lombardo (FR/Oceanside, NY), which brought home John Jonas (SR/Goshen, NY). Jonas was hit by a pitch and advanced on a double by Michael Skoller (SR/East Meadow, NY).

The Panthers, leading 1-0 after two, looked sharp on the mound and in the field, with rookie Jacob Vazquez (FR/Cortlandt Manor, NY) toeing the rubber. The lefty kept the Red Dragons off balance early, limiting Cortland to one hit over the first three innings.

Purchase added to its lead in the third, tacking on another single run. Center fielder Aryn Giddens (SR/Queens, NY), who reached on an error to leadoff the frame, scored on a passed ball. The visitors made a pitching change and got out of the inning, with the Panthers leaving one on. 

Cortland responded with a single run in the fourth on an RBI double by Max Rosing. The two-out, extra-base hit plated Vinny Bomasuto, who walked to start the inning.

In the fifth, the visitors tied the game at 2-2, manufacturing a run on a leadoff double, a sacrifice bunt – which moved the runner to third – and an RBI single off the bat off Tim Panetta.

With the game knotted, Cortland kept rolling and broke the tie with a big inning. Six runs on four hits followed, along with one error, handing the Red Dragon a 7-2 margin in the middle innings. The frame was also highlighted by a two-RBI double off the bat of P.J. Rinaldi. 

Fueled by their bats, the Red Dragon settled in on the mound as well, posting four scoreless innings against Purchase until the single run in the eighth.  

The Panthers also managed to stay in the game, holding Cortland scoreless from the fifth on until it scored an insurance eighth in the top half of the eighth. A brilliant bases-loaded grab by center fielder Ronald Pressley (FR/Bronx, NY) preserved the five-run deficit in the eighth and gave the Panthers a fighting chance in the ninth. However, Bomasuto, who moved from left field to the mound, recorded a one-two-three ninth to seal the win for the Red Dragons. 

Bomasuto also led Cortland offensively, collecting two of the team's nine hits, while right fielder Leandro Francisco (SR/Bedford Hills, NY) paced Purchase with two of his team's five hits.

Vazquez would take the loss for Purchase, despite a solid outing in his first turn on the hill. In relief, Ryan McAlary earned the win for Cortland.

Purchase has a pair of doubleheaders this weekend at home, with twin bills Saturday and Sunday. The team will honor former skipper Bill Guerrero in a pregame ceremony Saturday before welcoming rival Farmingdale State for a doubleheader on Sunday.