Eagles surprise No. 3 ranked Red Dragons, lose to Oswego
By Jim Krencik
STAFF WRITER

By Nicholas Serrata, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Senior Jake Dennstedt scattered seven hits and recorded nine strike-outs in the 4-2 victory against Cortland Saturday, March 31.

The 2007 home and conference opener for the SUNY Brockport baseball team was historic, as the Golden Eagles handed SUNY Cortland their first losses of the season and their first conference doubleheader sweep in 19 years on Saturday, March 31.

Brockport, ranked No. 22 in the nation by the latest American Baseball Coaches Association poll, used strong pitching and opportunistic offense to take an early lead in the SUNYAC standing from the Red Dragons, who were ranked No. 3 in the ABCA poll.

“I knew if we played well we could win both games,” said Brockport coach Mark Rowland about the 4-2 and 9-2 victories. “We had comebacks in both games, but I didn’t expect to coast in game two.”

Both Jake Dennstedt and Rob Maxwell pitched complete games after rocky starts for Brockport. Dennstedt worked around a bases loaded jam in the first inning and shut down the Red Dragons for the next eight innings, striking out 10 batters.

Maxwell allowed two runs in the first inning of the second game, but the Golden Eagles responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning and never looked back. Maxwell scattered 10 hits in his seven innings and struck out four batters.

“They both found their control,” Rowland said. “I didn’t expect them both to have complete games against Cortland’s lineup, but they kept getting stronger as the games went on.”

Brockport’s offensive output was nearly as impressive as their starting pitchers’ play. The Golden Eagles hit the first two home runs allowed by Cortland’s Jimmy Dougher in his four years of college. In the rematch, George Jweid got only five outs before being chased from the game by Brockport’s batters.

Brent Nicholson went 5-7 with a double and a home run in the doubleheader to lead the Golden Eagles. Mark Morlock went 2-3 in the second game, and Anthony Shallo hit the game-winning home run in game one.

The last time Cortland lost both ends of a regular season SUNYAC doubleheader was April 11, 1987 when the Red Dragons lost to SUNY Albany. Brockport did defeat the Red Dragons twice in the 2004 SUNYAC tournament.

By Nicholas Serrata, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER In game two against Cortland, sophomore Brent Nicholson went 4-for-4 with three singles and a double, accounting for half of Brockport’s eight hits.

Brockport’s doubleheader against SUNY Oswego on Sunday was postponed one day after six innings of play in rainy conditions. The first game started at noon, but a slowly increasing downpour began soon afterward.

Both teams scored twice before the game was halted due to messy playing conditions. When the game was resumed on Monday, the Golden Eagles scored eight runs to take a 10-2 lead going into the final half inning.

The momentum turned away from Brockport, as Oswego scored nine runs in the bottom of the ninth to win by a score of 11-10.

The second game of the doubleheader also ended with a walk-off hit in the final at-bat for Oswego, as a home run in the bottom of the seventh gave the Lakers a 2-1 victory.

The Golden Eagles took a break from SUNYAC action with a game against RIT on Tuesday, April 3. Brockport travels to Rochester to face St. John Fisher on Thursday, April 5 and hosts Fredonia for a SUNYAC doubleheader on Saturday, April 7.