AUBURN, NY – Sophomore centerfielder Matt Wild (Auburn) belted a two-run single to right centerfield with one out in the bottom of the second inning, while the SUNY Cortland defense, led by senior pitcher Travis Ratliff (Levittown/Division Avenue), stopped a pair of key scoring attempts plays at home plate on its way to a 3-1 triumph over Mitchell College (CT) in the second game of the 2011 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship Auburn Regional at Falcon Park.
   The Red Dragons (34-8), the top seed in the eight-team regional field, will face fifth-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University in the third game of the day on Thursday, May 19 at 4:30 p.m. The eighth-seeded Mariners (23-10-1), making their first ever NCAA tournament appearance in their seventh season as an NCAA Division III program, will play fourth-seeded The College at Brockport in the opening elimination game tomorrow at 10:00 a.m.
   Cortland was held to only six hits in 27 at-bats, with sophomore left fielder Chris Jackson (Wappingers Falls/Roy C. Ketcham)  the lone player with multiple hits by going 2-for-3 with a run scored.  Junior first baseman Nick Thode (Huntington Station/Walt Whitman) went 1-for-4, scoring the Red Dragons’ third run on a one-out single to right field with one out in the bottom of the sixth.
   Ratliff (5-4) went the distance in earning the win on the mound, scattering eight hits and yielding only a pair of walks while striking out six in facing 34 batters.
   Mitchell scored its lone run in the top of the sixth inning as freshman catcher Anthony Santiago (Newark, NJ/Bloomfield Tech) opened with a double down the left field line and scored when junior starting pitcher John Apostolo (Queens/St. Mary’s) singled through the right side. Santiago (2-for-4) and junior right fielder Angel Chacon (Queens/Martin Luther, 2-for-3) were the lone players recording multiple hits for the Mariners.
   Apostolo garnered the loss for Mitchell, giving up six hits, all three Cortland runs, and three walks while striking out five batters in six and two-third innings.
   The Mariners had a pair of opportunities to score in the early innings.  With runners at first and second base with two out in the third inning, Santiago singled to left field, but Jackson threw to senior third baseman Dan Kaplan (Penfield), who relayed to senior catcher Justin Fredenburg (Saugerties) to throw out Chacon (who rounded third base too far en route to being easily tagged at the plate).
.  The second opportunity came in the fourth inning with a runner on second with two outs when senior infielder John McGary (Waterford, CT) doubled to second base.  Cortland second baseman Matt June (Colonie) made a diving stop to prevent the ball from going into the outfield and threw to home to  throw out sophomore left fielder Osmer Collado (New York, NY/St. Agnes Boys), who reached base on a double and advanced to third on the way home before being put out.