Canton, NY – Lance Phillips Jr. had a 3-for-3 day at the dish, Derek Maldonado tallied two hits, and the SUNY Canton baseball team played at home for the first time in the 2026 season but lost to the Oneonta Red Dragons 9-3 on Saturday.

THE BASICS

• Results: Oneonta 9, SUNY Canton 3  
• Location: SUNY Canton Baseball Field – Canton, NY
• Records: SUNY Canton (8-14, 0-7 SUNYAC) | Oneonta (14-13, 4-5 SUNYAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Oneonta made it 1-0 early in the first inning but really brought out the bats in the third. A single, then three doubles quickly put the Roos in a hole with the Red Dragons ahead 4-0 a third of the way through the game.
• The Roos left three on in first but did not get much going over the next few innings. The Red Dragons were not messing around, throwing Jake Quigley who has by far the best ERA in the SUNYAC, with a 1.62 earned run average through 39 innings heading into today's game.
• Zander Johnson finished his five-inning start with two shutout innings in the fourth and fifth. Jayden Cunningham then pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
• Oneonta committed some blunders in the field during the sixth inning with Jared Paone and Eliezer Vázquez both aboard on errors to start the inning. Lance Phillips Jr. then singled out towards right to score Paone and break up the shutout effort. Another run later came across to score on a wild pitch as SUNY Canton halved the Red Dragon lead to 4-2.
• However, Oneonta got those two runs back in the seventh with a 2-RBI triple to get their lead back up by four.
• After another run by the visitors in the top of eighth, the Roos scored in the bottom of the frame with Jared Paone dropping a single, advancing to second on a wild pitch, and then scoring off a base hit by Phillips Jr. as the game was now at 7-3.
• The deficit was even larger into bottom of the ninth with the Red Dragons ahead 9-3. Both Derek Maldonado and AJ Campi had singles in the Roos final at-bats, but two strikeouts finished the game with Oneonta taking game one of the series.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Phillips Jr. took over catching duties for the fourth straight game and had a season-high three hits. Maldonado had two base knocks, and Paone had a hit plus two runs scored.
• Zander Johnson pitched five innings, allowing four earned runs with five punchouts. Jayden Cunningham tossed three innings in relief and Karter Kenniston threw the top of the ninth for the Roos.
• Quigley was on his game on the mound once again for the Red Dragons, pitching a complete game with one earned run, eight hits, two walks, and 10 strikeouts. At the plate, both Zachary Rowe and Brendan Duffy had three hits for Oneonta.
• Oneonta had 12 hits on the day with the Roos registering eight, all singles. Defense was a struggle for SUNY Canton with seven errors committed, while the Red Dragons were not that great either, committing four.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Roos will wrap up the season series against the Red Dragons tomorrow, April 12 with a twin bill starting at 11 a.m.      
   

Discover SUNY Canton, where innovation meets opportunity. The college's career-focused educational programs emphasize hands-on and applied learning opportunities in digital design, engineering technology, health, information technology, management, public service, and veterinary technology. Faculty members bring real-world experience and exceptional academic expertise to the classroom. As a leader in online education, SUNY Canton offers unmatched flexibility with hundreds of courses and 25 comprehensive degree programs offered completely online. The SUNY Canton Kangaroos compete at the NCAA Division III level and are members of the SUNYAC. In addition to its 15 traditional teams, SUNY Canton offers coed varsity esports and cheerleading.