#2 Farmingdale State - 4, #3 Ithaca - 3 F/10
Farmingdale, N.Y. - Sophomore pitcher Matt DeRamo (Smithtown, N.Y.) pitched 9.2 innings as second-seeded Farmingdale State defeated third-seeded Ithaca in game 9 of the NCAA Division III Farmingdale regional. With the win, the Rams (32-11) advance to the Championship game(s) and will face #1 seed SUNY Cortland on Saturday, May 19 at Noon. Ithaca finishes the year with a 29-10-1 record.
The Bombers opened the first with three runs on three hits and one error to take a 3-0 advantage, before Farmingdale got two runs back in the bottom of the inning. Sophomore right fielder Mike Marino (Franklin Square, N.Y.) knocked a single up the middle to score freshman second baseman Thomas Rydzewski (Franklin Square, N.Y.) for the first run. Junior first baseman Ron Remi (Massapequa, N.Y.) singled to right to score Marino for the second run.
DeRamo shut down Ithaca the rest of the way, with no runs, no walks and just one hit allowed until the 10th. The Rams scattered five hits and stranded five on base through the sixth inning, before the game-tying run came across the plate in the seventh. Rydzewski walked to put a runner on, then stole second and would move to third on a groundout. He scored on a wild pitch to tie it at 3-3.
Farmingdale State had a chance to take the lead in the eighth with bases loaded with two outs, but could not capitalize and would see the game go into extra innings.
In the top of the 10th, DeRamo allowed just his second hit since the first inning and with two outs was relieved by freshman Michael Santagata (Brentwood, N.Y.). Santagata forced a line out to shortstop to strand the runner on second.
In the bottom of the inning, Remi led off with a single through the left side. On the next pitch, senior third baseman Ryan McAllister (Miller Place, N.Y.) reached on a sacrifice bunt error and the ball sailed all the way to the fence as a streaking Remi traveled three bases and slid in for the game-winning run.
Santagata was awarded the win to improve to 1-0 on the season, while Ithaca's junior pitcher Ian Gaule (East Greenbush, N.Y.) fell to 0-2 on the year.
Remi finished 3-for-5 with one run scored and one RBI for Farmingdale State. Marino was 2-for-5 with one run and one RBI. Rydzewski totaled one hit and two runs scored.
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