GRAND CHUTE, WIS. – Senior shortstop Shawn Bailey (Webster/Webster Schroeder) doubled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning as Cortland defeated Illinois Wesleyan University, 11-10, to stay alive in the NCAA Div. III World Series.

Cortland (39-9-1) is one of three teams remaining in the Series. The Red Dragons will face Linfield College (Ore.) Tuesday at 11 a.m. (Central). That winner will face Illinois Wesleyan, which entered its game with Cortland unbeaten in the tournament, for the national title Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. (Central).

Senior Andersen Gardner (Fairport) finished 3-for-4 with a three-run homer, a walk, four RBI and four runs scored. Junior Jason Simone (Utica/Thomas R. Proctor) was 3-for-5 with two RBI and senior Steve Nickel (Lake Ronkonkoma/Sachem North) was 2-for-5 with a triple and three RBI. Bailey drove in two runs.

Sophomore Brendan Hourihan (Yorktown Heights/Lakeland) earned the win after entering with two outs in the top of the ninth and striking out the only batter he faced with the potential go-ahead run on second base. Illinois Wesleyan (30-21) had tied the game earlier in the ninth on Kevin Sullivan’s two-out RBI double to left center.

Jeff Grodecki, Brett Moore and Mark McDermott each recorded three hits for the Titans, which out-hit Cortland 15-13 in the contest.

Cortland’s winning rally started with a John Zilnicki (Riverhead) leadoff walk. Dan Kaplan (Penfield) bunted Zilnicki to second and Bailey lined an opposite-field double down the right field line to end the game.

Illinois Wesleyan took a 3-0 lead in the first on a Moore triple, a McDermott RBI single, a Jeff Grodecki RBI single later in the inning and a Zach Scott sacrifice fly. Cortland tied the game in the bottom of inning when Matt June (Colonie) and Adam Dimino (Honeoye Falls/Honeoye Falls-Lima) led off with singles and Gardner hit a three-run homer to right.

The Titans regained the lead on a Kraig Ladd leadoff homer in the second. Cortland knotted the game in the bottom of the third when Nickel singled with one out to drive in Gardner, who had singled and took second on a wild pitch.

The Red Dragons grabbed a 7-4 lead in the fourth on a Gardner RBI single and a Simone two-run single. The Titans came back to tie the game at 7-7 in the sixth on a McIntosh sacrifice fly, a Ryan Hopp bases-loaded walk and a Grodecki RBI single.

In the bottom of the sixth, Adam Dimino and Gardner each walked with one out. Nickel then lined a ball that got past a diving center fielder for a two-run triple and a 9-7 Cortland lead. In the seventh, Zilnicki led off with a triple and scored on a out-out Bailey squeeze bunt to extend the advantage to 10-7.

Illinois Wesleyan got two runs back in the eighth on a Scott RBI groundout and a two-out throwing error. In the ninth, Moore led off with a single, was bunted to second by McDermott, tagged to third on a flyout and scored on Sullivan’s double.

Kris Gentzke (Clarence Center/Clarence) started for Cortland and allowed 11 hits and seven runs over five and a third innings. He struck out one and walked two. Brandon DeRosa (Fairport) gave up two hits and two runs, one earned, in two innings. He walked three and fanned one. Michael Mahay (Whitesboro) went the next one and a third, allowing two hits and one run, before giving way to Hourihan.

Alex Tosi pitched the first three and a third innings for the Titans and allowed six runs, five earned, on seven hits. Nick Mehn gave up four hits and four runs in three innings and Pat Hayn took the loss with two innings of two-hit ball.

NOTEBOOK:

* Cortland advances to the final day of the World Series for the fourth time in school history. In 1997 and 1998, the Red Dragons entered the final day 3-1 (similar to this year), but lost in the game prior to the title game and finished third. In 2005, under a different tournament format, Cortland lost its first game before winning four in a row. The Red Dragons then lost in the championship round to Wisconsin-Whitewater and finished second in the nation.

* Simone extended his hitting streak to 22 games with a single in the third inning – the first of his three hits during the game. Simone’s hit streak matches the longest by a Cortland player this season – Matt June hit safely in 22 games before going hitless in an NCAA regional game. The school record is 26 straight games by Craig Kerner in 1998.

* Andersen Gardner hit his third home run of the World Series and his 10th of the season. Gardner and Steve Nickel are two of eight players in school history to hit at least 10 homers in a season (Nickel hit his 11th homer of the season earlier in the tournament). The school record is 13 homers by Alex Steele in 1997.

TOURNAMENT RESULTS AND SCHEDULE:

Tuesday, June 1 Schedule

11 a.m. - Linfield College (37-12) vs. SUNY Cortland (39-9-1) CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: 2:30 p.m. – Linfield/Cortland winner vs. Illinois Wesleyan Univ. (30-20)

Monday, May 31 Results

Linfield College 6, Heidelberg Univ. 4 (Eliminated) SUNY Cortland 11, Illinois Wesleyan Univ. 10

Sunday, May 30 Results

SUNY Cortland 23, Johns Hopkins Univ. 8 (Eliminated) Heidelberg Univ. 8, Univ. of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 3 (Eliminated) Illinois Wesleyan Univ. 4, Linfield College 3

Saturday, May 29 Results

Univ. of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 13, Univ. of Massachusetts-Boston 3 (Eliminated) Johns Hopkins Univ. 7, Shenandoah Univ. 4 (Eliminated) Linfield College 25, SUNY Cortland 11 llinois Wesleyan Univ. 4, Heidelberg Univ. 3

Friday, May 28 Results

State Univ. of New York-Cortland 9, Univ. of Wisconsin-Stevens Point 8 Linfield College (Ore.) 12, Univ. of Massachusetts-Boston 0 Heidelberg Univ. (Ohio) 3, Johns Hopkins University (Md.) 2 Illinois Wesleyan Univ. 7, Shenandoah Univ. (Va.) 5

Courtesy: SUNY Cortland Athletics