GREENSBORO, N.C. (February 25, 2024) – Just one day after defeating the second-ranked team in NCAA Division III, the No. 16 Denison University baseball team took down No. 10-ranked SUNY Cortland by a final score of 9-2 during its third and final day at the D3 College Showcase.

After Nick Falter pitched six innings allowing just two hits in Denison's win over No. 2 Salisbury University on Saturday, Will Rettig (1-0) got his first win of the season after tossing five innings and allowing just two runs on two hits while walking one and striking out three against No. 10 Cortland on Sunday.

A pair of two-out singles up the middle by Eric Colaco and Noah Leib led to two unearned runs for Denison in the bottom of the first, and then Cortland hit a pair of solo home runs to right field in the second and fourth innings to tie it.

Denison, meanwhile, left both Colaco and Leib in scoring position in the bottom of the third inning, and in the bottom of the fourth a ball off the bat of Jack Lutte resulted in a great catch by the Red Dragons' center fielder crashing into the wall for the first out of the inning.

Cade Nowik flashed the leather as well with a great diving stop and throw from third base for the final out of the top of the fifth inning, and then in the bottom half of the inning, an errant throw by the Cortland catcher trying to get Erik Sundgren stealing third base allowed Sundgren to score and break the tie.

The fifth inning continued as after a balk moved Colaco to third base with one out, a sacrifice fly to center field by Jake Welsch gave Denison its second two-run lead of the ballgame (4-2).

In the top of the sixth, a one-out single through the right side was followed by a long flyout to the warning track in left field as Cortland nearly tied it again with a home run. The threat was not over, however, as the Red Dragons loaded the bases with back-to-back two-out walks, but a swinging strikeout by the new Big Red pitcher, Peter Lemke, got Denison out of the inning unscathed.

Denison missed a chance to steal a run in the bottom of the sixth as a double steal attempt with Sundgren at first base and Alex Vasquez at third was thwarted by a great throw down to second base by the Cortland catcher.

The Big Red, however, continued to make some strong defensive plays to maintain the lead as a long run in by Wilson at shortstop led to a nice pick play at first base by Leib for the second out of the seventh inning, and then Leib had another pick on a ball in the dirt for the final out of the inning just one batter later.

Denison was able to add three insurance runs in the bottom of the seventh as back-to-back singles by Jake Blozy and Colaco to lead off the inning ultimately led to an RBI-bloop single to center field by Welsch, an RBI on a two-out bunt single by Wilson, and an RBI-double to left center field by Nowik.

Cortland loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the eighth, but a swinging strikeout by Lemke got him out of the jam. Lemke was effectively in relief in his what was his second appearance of the weekend as he pitched 2.1 innings allowing two hits, no runs and no walks while striking out three against the Red Dragons.

Offensively for Denison, four Big Red batters had two hits in this one while Colaco scored four runs, Welsch had three RBI's and Leib drew three walks. In addition, the Big Red also had eight stolen bases as a team, led by Leib with three and Colaco with two.

It was the first-ever meeting on the diamond between Denison (2-1 overall) and Cortland (3-4), which was swept in three games by No. 2 Salisbury to start its season before defeating three fellow-nationally-ranked teams by one run each over its first two days at the D3 Showcase. Cortland first took down No. 8 Marietta College 6-5 on Friday before defeating No. 20 Christopher Newport University 5-4 on Saturday and topping the No. 6-ranked and defending NCAA Division III National Champion University of Lynchburg 5-4 in 10 innings in its second game on Saturday. That streak of wins against nationally-ranked opponents, however, came to a screeching halt against the Big Red.

Denison will return to the field next weekend at the Derby City Classic hosted by Spalding University (Ky.) from March 2-3 in Louisville, Kentucky. The Big Red will start things off against North Central College at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 2, a game Denison won 13-0 in seven innings a year ago.