Auburn, New York – The Oberlin College baseball team took a 4-3 lead into the eighth, but couldn't make it stand up as No. 1 Cortland scored three in the inning to steal away a 6-4 win over the Yeomen in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Regional at Falcon Park in Auburn, New York.
 
After a rocky first two innings, sophomore southpaw Kyle Dominy settled in, keeping the potent Red Dragons off the board in innings three through seven. In all, the Phoenix, Arizona, native battled his way through seven innings, allowing three runs on five hits. However, he did hinder his cause with six walks.
 
The Yeomen out-hit Cortland 10-7 in the game with senior Kyle Decker leading the way with three, while Benjamin Whitener and Justin Cruz each added two.
 
The Red Dragons took advantage of Dominy's command issues in the first, scratching across a run on one hit, but they did leave the bases loaded. Cortland would take a 3-0 lead in the second on Conrad Ziemendorf's two-run single back up the middle.
 
The Yeomen would post a single tally in the third as Andrew Hutson drove in Jeff Schweighoffer on a hard-hit grounder to third.
 
Oberlin continued to make Cortland ace Brandon Serio work. Coming in with a record of 7-0 and a 1.52 ERA, the Yeomen were not afraid of his plaudits.
 
The Yeomen fifth started with a single by Justin Cruz and Decker followed with a double down the left field line. Whitener would later tie it with a clutch two-RBI double to right field as he roped a line shot that Donny Castalado tried to track down, but his diving attempt came up short.
 
Oberlin would take a 4-3 lead in the sixth as Ryan Bliss got the inning started with a hustle-double to left center and would later trade places with Blaise Dolcemaschio as he crushed a double to the alley in right center to put the Yeomen out in front.
 
The Yeomen had an opportunity to add on in the seventh, but left the bases loaded, which was part of nine left on base in the game.
 
In the eighth, the Yeomen turned to NCAC Tournament MVP Milo Sklar on the mound, but unfortunately he did not have his best stuff as Cortland took advantage of a walk, hit batter, and an error to go along with two hits to score three runs in the in the inning.
 
In the ninth, the Yeomen went in order. Decker sent a ground ball over the bag at third, but was out by a half a step at first, and the game ended on a hard lineout by Whitener to shortstop.
The Yeomen will play Oswego State tomorrow at 10 a.m. in the tournament's first elimination game. Fans can follow the action at goyeo.com/stream.