After concluding their regular season with three consecutive wins, the Oswego State baseball team has surged into the postseason with possession of the No. 2 seed.

The Lakers took down Utica University in a late-inning comeback during senior day on Saturday, April 25, and outslugged SUNY Fredonia in a doubleheader sweep on Monday, April 27. The Lakers outscored both teams 43-23 over three games.

One of those seniors, Mason Sands, got the start on the hill for the Lakers but struggled early, hitting the leadoff batter and issuing a walk before Utica’s Ty Montrose delivered an RBIdouble, and Brendan Berry capped a five-run first inning with a two-run double to give the Pioneers a 5-0 lead. In the top of the fourth, the Pioneers added three more, but the Lakers answered back with three of their own in the bottom half of the frame, thanks to some control issues from Utica reliever Justin Notargiacomo.

After the Pioneers extended their lead to 10-3, the Lakers responded with a surge at the plate in the sixth inning. Jaxson Mayo and Grayson Giddings drew walks to open the frame before Ryan Mayer and Emil Sander delivered RBI singles to cut the deficit to 10-5. 

Daniel Winchester followed with a can of corn to the outfield, which was misplayed, allowing two more runs to score and trimming the deficit to 10-7. 

Oswego carried that momentum into the seventh, where Mayo drove in yet another run with an RBI single and Mayer added a sacrifice fly. Sander then tied the game at 10-10 with an RBI double to left field.

The Lakers were not finished, scoring eight more runs to complete the comeback and secure an 18-10 Senior Day victory.

On Monday, the Lakers made the trip to Jamestown, New York, to take on the SUNY Fredonia Blue Devils in a doubleheader, and right from the start, it was obvious the Lakers had brought some of that offensive magic with them.

Oswego started their onslaught at the plate in the second inning with four runs, but put the finishing blow on the Blue Devils in the fourth by sending 11 runners across home plate for the 17-12 victory.

Brogan Olson led the offensive surge of a game-high five RBIs, highlighted by a grand slam that punctuated the fourth-inning eruption. Winchester added three RBIs, while Sander sparked the offense at the top of the lineup with three runs scored and a triple. Oswego tallied 17 hits and nine walks at the plate, and on the mound,Jonah Shearer earned the win with three shutout innings.

In game two, the Lakers locked back in on both sides of the ball.

On the mound, Oswego native Matthew Krul turned in his best performance of the season, going five innings and allowing the only run of the game, lowering his season ERA to 3.64. Tanner Ennen, Jordan Goble and Danny Moccio out of the bullpen shut down the Blue Devils, only allowing one hit over four innings of work.

In game two, Ricky Fasitta started the offense with a leadoff home run, Ben Rollison launched a three-run homer as part of a four-run fourth inning that silenced the Blue Devils. Oswego got two more in the fifth and walked away with an 8-1 victory in the second game of the twin bill.

The Lakers will host the SUNY New Paltz Hawks in a best-of-three series in round one of the SUNYAC playoffs on Saturday, May 2, at 3:30 p.m.