CORTLAND, N.Y. – Cortland's Tanner Whiteman pitched a complete-game six-hitter Saturday to lead the Red Dragons past Fredonia, 8-1, in the opening game of the SUNYAC baseball tournament.

Whiteman gave up a first-inning run before settling in. What then materialized was a pitchers' duel with Blue Devil senior right-hander Zachary Jordon (Akron, N.Y./Akron).

Fredonia took a 1-0 lead in the second. Dan Cecilia (Utica, N.Y./Whitesboro) lined a lead-off double into the left-field corner, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Steve Zaprowski (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South),  and scored when Patrick Sheehan (West Seneca, N.Y./Orchard Park) bounced out to second.

Cortland put runners on base in each of the first five innings before breaking through in the sixth. Jordon issued a pair of walks, one to lead off the inning, and both runners came around to score on a opposite-field, bloop single by pinch-hitter Seth Lamando with two outs.

Up 2-1, the Red Dragons (35-5) – ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division III – broke the game open with six runs in the seventh inning. The big hit was a bases-clearing, three-run triple by Connor Griffin. He was the first batter faced by reliever Lucas Schaefer (Depew, N.Y./St. Mary's).

Friday's other tournament game pit Oswego against Brockport. The winner will meet Cortland while the loser will take on Fredonia at 10 a.m. Saturday.