GRAND CHUTE, Wis. - Disregard the fact that most of the State University of New York-Cortland baseball players were operating on only a couple of hours sleep - if any sleep at all.

    Disregard the fact that the Red Dragons had to recover emotionally from a devastating come-from-behind loss to the College of Wooster just a few hours before, that put them in the precarious position of rallying from the elimination bracket of the NCAA Division III Baseball Championships at Fox Cities Stadium.

    And disregard the fact that the Red Dragons had to face a Hampden-Sydney College team that was in the same position, after the Tigers dropped a 10-0 decision the night before.

    The fact was that Cortland State had to win, and it had to make a statement right away.

    And with Travis Robinson's two-run homer to right field in the first inning, and Erik Johnson's three-run triple to deep left field in the third, the Red Dragons made its statement loud and clear - its season would not end on Saturday.

    The Red Dragons (40-8-1) pounded out 12 hits and scored eight runs in the first three innings to overcome Hampden-Sydney (27-15) 9-6 in Saturday's second elimination game. Cortland State, which tied its school record for wins in a season, will face the loser of Saturday's Wisconsin-Whitewater/Chapman game in another elimination contest on Sunday at 12 noon at Fox Cities Stadium.

    Cortland State to come back from a 7-6 loss to the College of Wooster that ended a little over eight hours before they returned to Fox Cities Stadium this morning. The loss, after Cortland State had led 5-0 after two innings, was a tough one to digest, but Cortland State coach Joe Brown said his team had to be resilient.

     "That's what you have to do. It's part of the game and you have to adapt," Brown said. "At this point of the season, kids are going on adrenaline so much, that it's probably the coaches that need a little more rest than some of these guys. But they were up and ready to go this morning."

    Cortland State continued its season-long trend of jumping on the board early. For the 23rd time this season, Cortland State scored in the first inning, popping two runs on Robinson's long home run with the wind to right field. Cortland State has now outscored its opponents 71-10 in the first innings of games this season, and are now 21-1-1 when it scores in its opening frame.

     "After that loss, we were just anxious to get back to the ballpark," said Robinson, who registered his fourth home run of the season. "You just want to get back there and swing the bat, come out fired up. Right now, we have our backs to the wall -- lose and go home - so we have to leave it all on the field."

    The Red Dragons scored six runs in the third inning, sending 11 batters to the plate. Nine straight batters reached base, including a leadoff triple by Jimmy Basnight and the big blow of the game, a three-run, bases-clearing double by Erik Johnson. Johnson's clout nearly left the park for a grand slam, but just hit near the top of the left-center wall.

     "The bases were loaded, so I was just looking for something to drive," Johnson said. "I got the pitch and hit it well. It was a fastball, mid-high. I was hoping it would go out, but I'll take it."

    Eight of the nine starters in the Red Dragons' lineup had hits, with Basnight, Robinson, Johnson and Ricky Piovesan collecting two hits apiece. Robinson and Johnson each drove in three runs, and Robinson scored twice.

    Hampden-Sydney, the only team in the eight-team field making its first-ever trip to the national finals, scored twice in the first three innings, both runs driven in by Mike Clark. He hit a single to center to drive in a run in the first inning, and stroked an RBI double past a diving Cortland State right-fielder Andy Mead in the third.

    The Tigers' biggest threat came in the eighth inning, when they sent eight batters to the plate and scored four runs. The Tigers worked the bases loaded, and got a run-scoring single by designated hitter Joe Knowles. Another run came across after a double-play grounder, and a single by David Cameron and a passed ball plated two more runs.

     "We fight hard. We may not fight well all the time, but we fight hard," said Hampden-Sydney coach Jeff Kinne. "It's kind of typical of our season. We just tried to battle back when we got down. We did a good job of that. I'm proud that we showed what we can do late."

    Clark ended up 3-for-4 at the plate for the Tigers, while Chris Padgett went 2-for-4 at the plate. Eight different Hampden-Sydney players scored as part of its 11-hit performance on Saturday, with Luke Brankley collecting a double.

    Starter Jayson Hanky was driven from the game during Cortland State's early outburst, allowing eight runs and eight hits. Larry Greene pitched five-and-two-thirds innings of relief, striking out five and allowing just one run, on an eighth-inning RBI single by Cortland State's Basnight.

    Cortland State used four pitchers in the contest, with starter Mike Burnett lasting seven innings and collecting five strikeouts against five walks and seven hits, improving to 9-2 on the season. Ryan Hooper and Justin Mattes pitched in relief, before Nick McPartland pitched a scoreless ninth for his fifth save of the year.

    Cortland State has now won at least one championship finals game in each of its last six appearances in the final affair (1997-2001, 2005), including each of its three appearances in the tournament at Fox Cities Stadium. Cortland State has appeared in the finals seven times in program history.