Farmingdale, NY – Resilient doesn’t begin to describe the Clarkson University Baseball team’s performance in the opening round of the NCAA New York Regional on Wednesday. Trailing by a score of 8-0 through five innings, the Golden Knights offense woke up the ballpark like a clap of thunder, as the Green and Gold came all the way back for a 15-12 victory over national powerhouse Cortland State at the Farmingdale State Baseball Facility.
The Golden Knights, proving they were more than just happy to be at their first ever NCAA Regional, improved to 22-19 overall on the season, while top-seeded Cortland State fell to 30-13. Clarkson, the sixth seed in the New York Regional, will play the loser of the Rensselaer/Farmingdale State game at 3:30 pm on Thursday.
Cortland starter Matt Tone, who pitched against the Knights in Florida earlier this season, showed why he is considered a professional prospect through the first five frames as the lefty struck out six and allowed just two hits. The Red Dragons offense, an always formidable one, took advantage of several Clarkson miscues in the early going and built an 8-0 lead with three runs in the third and five more in the fourth. In the sixth, however, Clarkson finally began to solve Tone, as senior Cale Giroux (Cortland, NY) started the Knights’ first offensive scoring rally with a lead off double. Four batters later, a two-run single from David Kinney (Mexico, NY) put the Knights on the scoreboard. Unfortunately, Cortland quickly responded with two in the bottom of the inning to push the advantage back to eight runs.
In the seventh inning, Clarkson knocked out Tone and continued to send Cortland relievers back to the dugout as the Knights began an extended hit barrage in the next two innings. The Knights scored four runs in the seventh inning, making things interesting in the opening contest of the regional. Giroux drove in a run with a single to left, Matt Curry (Richland, NY) pushed a run home on an infield single and error, and Jerry Coleman (Potsdam, NY) and David Kinney drove in another run when he reached base via error, making the score 10-6.
In the bottom of the seventh, Cortland’s offense continued to make things difficult for the Knights’ comeback effort as the Red Dragons tallied two more runs, making the score 12-6. However, Clarkson’s eighth inning proved to be the difference, as the Knights plated eight runs to take a 14-12 lead. The biggest blow of the inning was Coleman’s bases clearing double, but Matt Giordano (Liverpool, NY) and Curry also delivered hits near the end of the frame to put the Knights on top. Clarkson tacked on another run in the ninth for good measure as Sal DiSanza (Elbridge, NY) sent Coleman home on a deep sacrifice fly to the left center gap.
Clarkson’s Rick Bittner (Lancaster, NY) got the start and pitched into the fourth inning before being relieved by sophomore Kyle Moldoff (Nassau, NY), who earned the victory as he held Cortland’s offense mostly in check for nearly four relief innings. Vinnie Baldwin (Catskill, NY) notched his second save of the season by pitching two flawless innings of relief to close out the Red Dragons.
The big bats for Clarkson were Giroux and Curry, as the two and three hitters for the Knights each had four hits. Both Coleman and Kinney went 3-for-6 with four RBIs. For Cortland, Kevin Jackson went 3-for-4.