The College at Brockport Baseball team beat nationally ranked Cortland 6-3 behind senior Wesley Burghardt's (Chittenango, NY/Chittenango) stellar performance at the plate as he went three-for-four with two doubles and three runs batted in Monday night during a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) matchup at Onondaga Community College.

Brockport (11-8, 4-5 SUNYAC) pitcher Zack Lander (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) had another impressive outing as he held No. 2 Cortland to three runs off of six hits as he pitched into the seventh inning.  Lander struck out four as he earned his third win of the season.

The Golden Eagles were in a 1-0 deficit until the fourth inning when senior Anthony Barbetto (New City, NY/Clarkstown North) got the rally started with a leadoff single to right center and was able to advance to second base on a fielding error by the right fielder.  Junior Chris Davis (Syracuse, NY/Bishop Ludden) reached first base after hitting a grounder to the shortstop in which the fielder tried to get the runner at third but made a throwing error, allowing Barbetto to tie the score and Davis to advance to second.

Burghardt kept the bats going as he hit a double to left center, allowing Davis to score.  Two batters later Burghardt scored as senior John Craig (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) doubled down the left field line.  Brockport wasn't satisfied with its two run lead as freshman Luke Gilbert (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) drilled a single into right field, allowing Craig to score and cap off the four-run fourth inning.

Lander kept Cortland scoreless in the bottom of the fourth and the Golden Eagles offense tacked on two more runs in the top of the fifth.  Brockport had runners on second and third with two outs.  Burghardt ripped a double down the right field line allowing both runners to score and giving Brockport a 6-1 lead.

The Red Dragons answered back with one run in the bottom of the fifth and threatened the Golden Eagles in the bottom of the seventh as they had the bases loaded with two outs. Lander got into some trouble in the seventh after getting the first batter to ground out, the Red Dragons loaded the bases before a pitching change.

Seve Kowalski (Franklin Springs, NY/Clinton) came into the seventh with one out and the bases loaded. Kowalski got the first Red Dragon batter to ground out to first closing the gap with a run to make it 6-3. With runners on second and third and two outs, he got the Golden Eagles out of future damage with a grounder to the third baseman. 

Cortland threatened again in the ninth as they had runners on first and third with two outs but a line drive back to senior pitcher Nick Pontari (Troy, NY/Troy) ended the game. Pontari picked up his second save of the season as the Golden Eagles handed Cortland its first SUNYAC loss of the season and only second all year.

Brockport returns home Friday and Saturday for a three-game conference series against Plattsburgh beginning Friday at 3 pm and continuing with a double header Saturday at noon.