AUBURN, N.Y. – Pitching before a hometown crowd, junior righthander and Auburn native Mike Assmann threw a complete game five hitter, striking out five batters while walking only one as host and top ranked SUNY Cortland secured a spot in the championship round of the 2010 NCAA Division III Championship Auburn (NY) Regional at Falcon Park with a 6-1 triumph over second-ranked St. John Fisher College.

The Red Dragons (35-8-1), the lone unbeaten team in tournament play with a 3-0 record, will play in the 5 pm contest on Saturday, May 22, needing to win to move on to the NCAA Division III Championship on May 28-June 1 in Appleton, WI. A loss forces a deciding game the following day at 1 pm.

The Cardinals (30-13) will face either SUNY Oneonta or Castleton State in an elimination matchup on Saturday at 1 p.m., with the winner joining Cortland in the championship round.

Assmann (7-3), a graduate of Auburn High School, faced 34 batters and held Fisher scoreless through eight and a third innings. He retired the first 11 batters before giving up back-to-back singles to freshman second baseman Ben Bostwick (ROCHESTER, NY/Aquinas Institute) and senior first baseman Jon Gibbs (PITTSFORD, NY/Pittsford Sutherland) in the top of the fourth. The Cardinals could only muster a hit in the fifth before garnering two hits in the ninth, breaking up the shutout bid with a run-scoring single with two outs by Gibbs, scoring Bostwick from second.

Bostwick and Gibbs were the only players to record multiple hits for Fisher, both going 2-for-4. Senior righthander Andrew Van Slyke (ROME, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) pitched six and two-third innings in getting the loss (5-3), giving up nine hits, six runs (one earned) and a walk while striking out two.

Cortland scored a run in the first, fourth, and sixth innings, before breaking it open with three runs in the seventh inning. Three players tallied a pair of hits and two RBI, led by senior catcher Andersen Gardner (FAIRPORT, NY/Fairport), going 2-for-4 with four runs scored.

Senior third baseman Steve Nickel (LAKE RONKONKOMA, NY/Sachem North) and junior left fielder Jason Simone (UTICA, NY/Thomas R. Proctor) each went 2-for-3, with Simone extending his hitting streak to 17 games. Sophomore second baseman Matt June (COLONIE, NY/Colonie) scored a run, but went 0-3 (two fly outs and a walk) to end his hit streak at 22, which ties him for fourth place in the program’s history.