CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Cortland baseball team clinched the top seed for the SUNYAC postseason tournament after a hard-fought, 4-3 win over visiting Oswego in 10 innings Tuesday afternoon at Wallace Field.
 
Cortland improves to 24-8-1 overall and 14-1 in the SUNYAC with three league games remaining this weekend at Oneonta. Oswego falls to 17-14 overall and 13-4 in conference play. The best the Lakers can do is tie Cortland for first, but the Red Dragons hold a 2-1 advantage in head-to-head play. The SUNYAC tournament has changed to a two-weekend format this season - the top two seeds will host best-of-three semifinals series May 1-2, and the highest remaining seed will host a best-of-three finals series May 8-9.
 
The game was originally scheduled to be played at Oswego, but was moved to Cortland due to field conditions at Oswego. As a result, Cortland batted first in the game, and the Red Dragons struck for a run in the top of the first when Talon Elkins (Syracuse/West Genesee) doubled down the left-field line and later scored on an RBI single up the middle by Tristan Gatchalian (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor).
 
Oswego answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning as Ryan Mayer singled and eventually came around to score on an RBI single by Brogan Olson to tie the game at 1-1.
 
Cortland regained control in the third inning with a two-run rally. Trey McGowan (Blue Point/Bayport-Blue Point) singled and Lucas Granger (Horseheads) walked to start the frame before Elkins moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. After a strikeout, JJ DeLawder (Hyde Park/Franklin D. Roosevelt) delivered with a single to shortstop that brought home two runs, the second of which scored due to a throwing error, to give Cortland a 3-1 advantage.
 
Both starting pitchers turned in strong performances and kept the game under control for much of the afternoon. Cortland's Connor Hayden (Aliso Viejo, CA/Aliso Niguel) allowed just one run on five hits over six innings, striking out three. Oswego starter Matthew Krull was equally effective, limiting the Red Dragons to three runs (two earned) on five hits across seven innings while striking out three. He kept Cortland off the scoreboard after the third inning, retiring 13 straight batters after the DeLawder single.
 
The Lakers broke through in the seventh inning to even the score. After a walk and a hit-by-pitch put two runners on, Mayer came through again with a two-run single to right-center, tying the game at 3-3.
 
From there, both bullpens settled in. Cortland's Zack Zarrilli (Farmingdale), the Red Dragons' second reliever, had entered in with runners on second and third and one out in the bottom of the seventh and allowed the Mayer two-run single, but he got out of a first-and-second jam with a foul out and flyout. He finished with three scoreless innings of relief, stranding multiple runners and keeping the game tied heading into extra innings. In the bottom of the ninth, Oswego had runners on second and third before Zarrilli struck out a batter to keep the game tied.
 
Cortland took the lead for good in the top of the 10th. Logan Karwowski (Clay/Cicero-North Syracuse) led off with a double down the left-field line and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Danny Jackson (.Lagrangeville/Arlington). Karwowski then scored on a pitch that found its way to the backstop, giving the Red Dragons a 4-3 edge.
 
After Zarilli allowed a pair of one-out singles in the bottom of the 10th, Tommy Lynch (West Seneca/Canisius) came on and closed the door to earn his second save of the season. He forced a pop-up and recorded a strikeout to secure the Red Dragons' win. Zarrilli earned the victory to improve to 1-0 on the season. Matthew Drillings took the loss for Oswego despite allowing only one run in three innings.
 
At the plate, Elkins led Cortland with two hits, including a double, while DeLawder also finished with two hits and drove in a run. Mayer led Oswego with three hits and two RBI in four at-bats.