ITHACA, N.Y. – Meghan Donoghue led off with a triple and scored on a one-out wild pitch in the top of the seventh inning as nationally 21st-ranked Lebanon Valley College defeated sixth-ranked Cortland, 1-0, in an elimination game at the NCAA Div. III softball regional hosted by Ithaca College.

Cortland, which avoided elimination earlier in the day with a 7-3 win over Polytechnic Institute of New York University, finishes the season with a 40-8 record. The Red Dragons reached the 40-win mark for the second straight year and the third time in school history. Cortland was making its fourth straight NCAA playoff appearance and 16th overall.

Lebanon Valley (34-12) will face Alfred University Sunday in an elimination game. The winner of that contest will play Ithaca in the championship round and will need to beat the Bombers twice (once Sunday, once Monday) to win the regional and advance to the Div. III World Series in Eau Claire, Wis.

Lebanon Valley 1, Cortland 0

The Cortland-Lebanon Valley game featured a pitcher's duel between Cortland senior Katie Finch (Amsterdam/Broadalbin-Perth) and the Dutchmen's Laura Snyder. Finch tossed a three-hitter with 10 strikeouts and no walks, while Snyder threw a one-hitter with nine strikeouts and two walks. Finch finishes the season 26-4 and Snyder is now 15-5.

Each pitcher got out of at least one jam over the first six innings. Lebanon Valley's Kerri Datres led off the game with a single and took second on an outfield error. She was bunted to third, but Finch recorded a strikeout and lineout to end the inning. The Dutchmen did not have another runner advance past first base until their winning rally in the seventh.

Cortland had runners in scoring position in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings but couldn't cash in. In the fourth, Donnalyn Cross (Binghamton/Chenango Valley) led off with a single for the Red Dragons' lone hit. She took second on a Lucia Meola (Liverpool/Cicero-North Syracuse) bunt but was stranded.

In the fifth, Jessica Harman (Penfield) and was forced at second on an attempted Lorraine Stoddard (Liverpool) sacrifice. With two outs, however, Stoddard stole second and went to third when Lebanon Valley's shortstop failed to tag her on a grounder hit by Brooke Weidman (Perkinsville/Wayland-Cohocton). Weidman took second on the play, but a ball hit into right center by pinch hitter Sammi Dieffenbach (Erin/Horseheads) was tracked down by Lebanon Valley centerfielder Chelsea Kehr to end the inning. Meola reached on an error with one out in the sixth, went to second on a passed ball and moved to third on a groundout, but a flyout ended that threat.

Cortland 7, Polytechnic 3

Cortland recorded 14 hits in the first game of the day versus Polytechnic. Cross and senior Emily Ringen (Pompton Plains, NJ/Pequannock) each finished 3-for-5 with two RBI, while Stoddard, Weidman and senior Jackie Begnoche (Montgomery/Valley Central) were each 2-for-4. Stoddard and Begnoche each scored twice and Weidman drove in a run.

Sophomore Lyndsay Rowell (Sandy Creek) improved to 14-4 with a complete-game victory. She scattered nine hits, walked one and struck out three.

Cortland scored in the first on a Ringen RBI single and twice in the second on RBI hits by Cross and Ringen. The Red Dragons' three-run third featured a Cross RBI triple – her 15th three-bagger of the season – and Weidman singled in a run in the fourth to put Cortland up 7-1.

Polytechnic got on the board in the third on a Annamarie Smith sacrifice fly and closed to within 7-3 in the fifth on Elizabeth Schrandt's two-run homer. The Blue Jays (32-11) loaded the bases with one out on three singles, but Rowell escaped after a lineout to third and a groundout to second. Shelby Bruns, Natalia Stockinger and Laura Buzzard each finished with two hits for Polytechnic.

NOTE: Following the regional, Katie Finch, Donnalyn Cross and Lorraine Stoddard were selected to the all-tournament team.

Regional Tournament Web Page

Box Score vs. Polytechnic

Box Score vs. Lebanon Valley