Freshman Dan Erne pitched shutout ball into the eighth inning and senior Andy Salvatore came on to snuff out a St. Lawrence rally and earn a save as Oswego State edged the Saints 3-2 in a NCAA Division III baseball game at Tom Fay Field Wednesday afternoon.
Erne allowed six hits in his seven and two thirds innings, four of them coming in the bottom of the eighth as the Saints, now 5-7 rallied to score their two runs. Salvatore got Ryan Duff to ground out to end the eighth and pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up the save for the Lakers, now 7-5 on the season.
A total of five Saint pitchers held Oswego to six hits, but a pair of walks in the top of the seventh contributed to a 3-0 Laker lead. Oswego scored its first run in the third off Saint rookie Matt DeLuca. Bryan Stark led the inning off with a single to center and Rafael Cordero singled to right with Stark moving to third. Stark scored on a ground out by Ryan Clements. The Lakers made it 3-0 in the seventh off Saint sophomore Kyle Donaldson. A pair of walks set up a two-out, two-run single by Clements for the 3-0 lead.
The Saints, who had a run cut down at the plate in the second inning, closed to within two in the bottom of the eighth. Ethan Braddock singled to center and sophomore Tom Pasquali doubled to left to give the Saints runners at second and third with two out. Senior center fielder Tim Harris then laced a single to left, scoring Braddock and Pasquali. Carter Franz then doubled to right, moving Harris to third, but Salvatore got Duff to end the inning and then struck out two after opening the inning with a hit batter in the bottom of the ninth to preserve the win.
Oswego 001 000 200–3-6-1
St. Lawrence 000 000 020â€â€2-6-2
Oswego: Erne (W), Salvatore (7, s) and Lazzaro; SLU: Slater, DeLuca (3), Piatelli (5) Donaldson (6, L, 2-1), Considine (8) and D’Auteuil. 2b-SLU Franz, D’Auteuil
