With the win, Cortland State (34-9) advances to face the University of St. Thomas in a championship-bracket game Saturday at 7:45 p.m. Southern Maine (36-13) will face Illinois Wesleyan in an elimination game Saturday at 1:15 p.m. It was the 17^th time Cortland State, who entered the tournament averaging 9.7 runs per game, scored at least 10 runs in a game – all victories.

Cortland State was also aided by a complete-game pitching performance by Mike Howell, who improved to 11-1 overall with an eight-strikeout, one-walk performance. Meanwhile, the Huskies were forced to send five pitchers to the plate – four in the final three innings. The pitchers combined to walk nine Cortland State hitters and allowed 10 base hits. It was the 27^th time Cortland State had collected at least 10 hits in a game – all victories.

"We’ve been doing a pretty good job the last two-and-a-half weeks of hanging into baseball games and just keeping it close," said Cortland State coach Joe Brown. "Mike made some big pitches in situations to keep us close in the game, and we got baserunners and put the ball in play. We hung around."

Cory Haggerty led the Red Dragons with a 2-for-4 night at the plate, driving in three runs and scoring twice. He had a run-scoring double in the third inning and a two-run triple in the eighth as part of a five-run inning.

The Red Dragons led 2-1 after four innings, but the Huskies came back to take a 5-2 lead in the seventh inning. However, Cortland State rallied with three runs in the bottom of the seventh and five runs in the eighth to claim the victory, sending eight hitters to the plate in the seventh and nine in the eighth.

"We had been hitting the ball well the whole game," said Cortland State’s Haggerty. "It’s tough when you see him (the pitcher) the first time, but the second and third time around, everybody started to pick it up and they had to go through a lot of pitchers. That’s how it goes when you’re seeing the ball well and putting it in play. It was just a matter of time."

Tyler Delorme went 3-for-4 to pace the Huskies, collecting three RBI. He doubled and scored in the fourth inning and smacked a three-run home run down the left-field line in the sixth inning, the second homer of the tournament and his team-high 10^th homer of the year.

"I thought that was going to be the margin of victory, because (Southern Maine starting pitcher) Ryan Adams, coming back from arm problems, has been really effective all year," Delorme said. "He doesn’t give up many runs and our pitching staff had been coming along at the end very strong. I really thought that was the game."

The homer gave the Huskies a 4-2 lead, and after a run-scoring single by Ben Albright in the seventh, the Huskies held a 5-2 lead. But Cortland State was able to rally for the win.

"It kind of put a dagger in us at first, but I knew we could jump back," said Cortland State leftfielder Brendan Chiavaro, who went 2-for-4 and scored three runs.

Chiavaro came across the plate for the Red Dragons in the bottom of the seventh, scoring after a fielding error on a double-play attempt. Cortland State put runners on first and second with one out, forcing SMU to bring in a second relief pitcher. But Brian Huber tied the game at 5-5 with a two-out single to left center, driving in two runs.

"We use a lot of guys (pitchers)," said Southern Maine head coach Ed Flaherty. "We walked too many guys, obviously. … We allowed them too many baserunners, even early in the game. I don’t think Ryan Adams pitched his best."

Adams ended up walking five hitters and hitting two before being relieved in the sixth inning.

The Red Dragons used another rally in the eighth inning to take the lead, gaining runners on base on a single and walk. Cory Haggerty hit a two-run triple to right center off of reliever Colin Loveless, and a single by Larry Williams plated another to give Cortland an 8-6 lead. Matt Christiana hit another single to drive in a run, and Huber’s sacrifice fly plated the 10^th run of the game for the Red Dragons.