The College at Brockport's baseball team needed a clutch hit to keep alive its dreams of repeating as State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) champions. Tied at 8-all in the bottom of the ninth of an elimination game Friday afternoon, senior Mike Goldstein (Slingerlands, NY/Guilderland) obliged, delivering an RBI single that scored freshman Kyle Tracy (Plainview, NY/Bethpage) with the winning run.

 

Brockport (25-11 overall) rallied for a wild, wacky 9-8 win over New Paltz (20-19) at Cortland's Wallace Field.

 

With the win, the Golden Eagles (25-11 overall) will face No. 3 Oneonta in another elimination game at 3:15 p.m. Saturday afternoon.

 

Junior Aaron Tilley (Troy, NY/Troy) struck out a season-high nine batters, but Brockport allowed four unearned runs and fell to Oneonta 5-2 Friday morning in a first-round SUNYAC game.

 

The loss in the first game of the double-elimination tournament meant second-seeded Brockport's game with New Paltz was an elimination game.

 

Facing the Hawks, Brockport jumped to a 2-0 lead before falling behind 4-2. The Golden Eagles rallied and led 6-4 before New Paltz scored three runs in the top of the eighth for a 7-6 lead.

 

Senior Max Keado (Troy, NY/Catholic Central) then tied the game in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI single and senior Max Zimmerman (East Amherst, NY/Williamsville North) took a bases-loaded walk to push across the go-ahead run.

 

Pesky New Paltz once again tied the game on an RBI single up the middle, but with the Hawks looking to take a 9-8 lead, Keado came up firing and threw Dylan Franco out at the plate to end the threat.

 

In the bottom of the inning, Tracy reached when he was hit by a pitch, and Brockport had runners at first and second when junior Mike DeGregory (Saratoga Springs, NY/Schuylerville) reached on a fielding error. Senior Tom McCormick's (Utica, NY/Utica Notre Dame) moved DeGregory and Tracy to second and third, respectively, and Goldstein sent the Green and Gold fans home happy with his clutch, one-out hit.

 

In Game 1, Brockport and third-seeded Oneonta (21-15) played a scoreless first four frames, with each team having chances to break through with the game's first run.

 

Tilley struck out the side in the second, getting two swinging strikeouts and a looking strikeout. The Red Dragons again threatened in the third, getting back-to-back two-out singles before Tilley settled in and got a strikeout to end the inning.

 

Oneonta broke through in the fifth. The Red Dragons loaded the bases with one out before Tilley got a strikeout. The next batter delivered a two-run single into right-center field for a 2-0 lead, and both runs were unearned. A double down the right-field line plated two more runs, both unearned, as Oneonta took a 4-1 lead before a strikeout ended the inning.

 

The Green and Gold chipped away at the Red Dragons' lead, starting in the bottom of the fifth. Tracy led off with a single and advanced to second on a groundout. He moved to third on a wild pitch and crossed the plate with Brockport's first run when McCormick lofted a fly ball into center field.

 

Brockport pulled within 4-2 in the sixth. Junior Corey Booth (Middletown, NY/Minisink Valley) reached on a fielding error and then advanced to second on a throwing error by Oneonta's third baseman. Zimmerman then plated Booth on a single into center field.

 

A leadoff double and a throwing error allowed Oneonta to put a runner at third with no outs in the seventh, but Tilley got a groundout for the first out of the inning, and the runner was caught in a rundown between third and home and was tagged for the second out. Tilley escaped the frame with the score still 4-2 Red Dragons.

 

Tilley (4-1) pitched seven innings of eight-hit ball, allowing the four unearned runs while striking out a season-high nine batters with four walks.

 

In the eighth, Keado singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch and moved to third on a fly out. But Oneonta escaped the jam when its shortstop, Kevin Knack, made a nice play to his left, going deep behind the second base bag to throw out sophomore Mike Weakley (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool).

 

Oneonta tacked on an insurance run in the ninth, and Brockport was retired in order to end the game.

 

Facing New Paltz, Brockport mounted a two-out rally in the first to take a 2-0 lead. Booth singled and scored on Zimmerman's double to center field, and Zimmerman took third on a throwing error on the play. It was Zimmerman's 36th career double, which moved him into a tie for second on Brockport's all-time doubles list.

 

Weakley then drove home Zimmerman with an RBI single up the middle as Brockport led 2-0 after one.

 

The Hawks countered with four runs in the top of the second, highlighted by a three-run home run, and led 4-2 heading into the bottom of the second.

 

Brockport got a run back in the third. Coleman singled, stole second, and following a walk to Booth, both Coleman and Booth moved up a base on a double-steal. Coleman crossed the plate with Brockport's third run on a wild pitch.

 

The Green and Gold broke through with the tying run in the fifth. Booth laced a one-out triple and scored when Zimmerman drove an RBI single through the left side of New Paltz's infield.

 

Brockport continued its rally in the sixth. DeGregory reached on a fielding error by New Paltz's third baseman and stole second base. After a lineout, Goldstein blasted a standup double down the left-field line to score DeGregory and give Brockport a 5-4 lead. With two outs, Keado extended the lead to 6-4 by doubling into left field, a hit that scored Goldstein.

 

It appeared that Weakley had scored Brockport's seventh run on a solo home run in the seventh, but New Paltz left fielder Jim Briggs went back to the wall, leapt and pulled back Weakley's blast.

 

The Hawks re-took the lead in the eighth, scoring a run on an RBI single and taking a 7-6 lead on a two-run double into left field off the bat of Briggs. That hit drove Smith from the game, and freshman reliever Justin McCarthy (Mohegan Lake, NY/Lakeland) got a fly out to end the threat.

 

Brockport got runners at first and second with only one out in the eighth. DeGregory singled and stole second before Goldstein drew a walk. After a line out, Keado sent a single through the right-side of the infield, scoring DeGregory to knot the score at 7-all. Goldstein moved to second on the play, and Brockport got the bases loaded when Booth was hit by a pitch.

 

A patient Zimmerman took four straight balls to score Goldstein as Brockport took an 8-7 lead heading into the top of the ninth.

 

McCarthy (1-0) earned the win, allowing one run on three hits in 1 1/3 innings pitched.