Junior Chad King had three hits to lead a 14-hit attack today, as the Cardinals defeated Oswego 12-4 in the winners bracket of the ECAC Division III Upstate Championship at Oneonta State College. The win advances Fisher (25-10) into the championship game while pushing Oswego (15-13) into an elimination game against host Oneonta.
With the win, Fisher will now play at 1 p.m. on Sunday against either Oswego or Oneonta. If Fisher loses, the two schools will play again at 4 p.m.
Oswego got out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second thanks to a one-out RBI double to left field by junior Steve Guckemus.
Fisher began its assault with three runs in the bottom of the inning with all runs scoring with two outs. The rally began with a runner on first for the Cardinals and freshman
Kevin Wing drawing a walk. He was followed by a single off the bat of classmate
John Quartironi that drove in the inning’s first run. After a hit batsman loaded the bases, senior
Chris Botsford hit a sharp single to drive in a pair of runs and give the Cardinals a 3-1 lead.
Fisher added to its lead with single runs in both the third and fourth innings. The run in the third was driven in by senior
Mike Palermo on a sacrifice fly. The run for the Cardinals in the fourth came when King hit a two-out RBI single.
Fisher carried a 5-2 lead into the home half of the seventh before exploding for seven runs to put the game out of reach for the Lakers. The first two runs came from a two-run homer to left field by senior
Matt Bennage. The final five runs all came with two outs three of which were unearned after an error by the Oswego center fielder with the bases loaded.
Freshman Andy Van Slyke who entered the game in relief of King in the third inning, pitched the rest of the way to pick up his third win of the season. Van Slyke went seven innings allowing five hits, three runs, all unearned, with one strikeout.
