#2 seed Oswego State pounded out 16 hits on Thursday afternoon, and cruised past Husson University 17-6 in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Baseball Regionals at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.
Husson got off to a good start in their first regional appearance since 2011. Kobe Rogerson hit a one out double to left center in the top of the first inning, and then David Leblanc walked. With two outs, Brandon Smith doubled in Rogerson and Leblanc to make it 2-0 Eagles. Oswego State (25-5) came right back in the bottom half against Husson starter Brandon Brunell. Two walks wedged around a single, and then a hit batsman cut it to 2-1. Another walk tied it, before Jacob Levine had an RBI single to give the Lakers the lead for good with still noone out. Brunell was replaced by Chris Naylor, who allowed another RBI single and an RBI sacrifice fly to cap off a five run frame.
The Eagles sliced the margin to a run in the top of the second. Jackson Curtis led off with his fifth double in his last six plate appearances, and Tyler Parke singled. Brandon Smith came through with two outs with a two-run single to make it 5-4. Five more in the bottom half put the game away for Oswego State. Three singles, a balk, two sacrifices, and two errors by Husson right fielder Ethan Stoddard in a sun field increased the advantage to 10-4. Two RBI hits by the Lakers, and another Eagles error added three more runs in the third inning. They went on to score two more in the sixth and the seventh inning to pull away.
Brunell (2-2) took the loss on the mound not recording an out and allowing five runs on two hits with three walks. No Eagles batters recorded more than one hit, with Leblanc and Smith driving in two runs each. Jacob Terrill (4-0) allowed four runs on six hits in 7.0 innings to pick up the pitching win for Oswego State. Paul Tammaro and Brendon Frank each had three hits, and Frank and Ryan Weiss both had three RBI. Tammaro scored four runs, while Frank and Ryan Enos scored three a piece. #5 seed Husson (22-8) will face #6 seed Johnson & Wales (13-15) in a elimination game Friday at 11 a.m.
