ITHACA, N.Y. – Senior
Cassie Kardias (Shrub Oak/Lakeland) went 3-for-3 with a homer, walk, two RBI and three runs scored and junior
Amber Corrigan (Montgomery/Valley Central) threw a three-hitter as Cortland advanced to the winner's bracket final of the NCAA Div. III Regionals with a 10-2 victory over Western Connecticut State. The game was called after six innings due to the eight-run rule.
Cortland improved to 30-14 on the season and reached the 30-win mark for the 12th straight year. The fourth-seeded Red Dragons will face third-seeded Lebanon Valley (Pa.) Saturday at 2 p.m. as they continue play in the eight-team, double-elimination tournament. Lebanon Valley is also 2-0 at the regional after rallying to defeat Washington (Md.), 5-4, on a two-out, two-run homer in the top of the seventh.
Corrigan, who improved to 16-4 on the season, did not allow a hit until Stephanie Moss' leadoff double in the bottom of the fourth. She also gave up an Ashlie Morris leadoff single in the sixth and, with two outs, Michaela Roche hit a two-run homer to break up Corrigan's shutout bid. Corrigan walked only one and struck out four.
Four Red Dragons registered multiple hits. In addition to Kardias' perfect day, freshman
Diane Cork (Wayland/Wayland-Cohocton) was 2-for-3 with two runs, senior
Nicole Gallo (Mount Sinai) went 2-for-4 with three RBI and junior
Briana Barca (Eastchester) was 2-for-3 with an RBI. Senior
Lucia Meola (Liverpool/Cicero-North Syracuse) doubled and drove in two runs.
Cortland took a 2-0 lead in the second on RBI singles by Gallo and Barca. Kardias clubbed a two-run homer in the second to push the advantage to 4-0 and Wolstenholme singled, stole second, took third on a sacrifice and scored on an error in the fourth to give the Red Dragons a 5-0 lead.
The Red Dragons batted around in a five-run sixth inning to go ahead 10-0. Barca singled with one out and Cork hit a two-out single. Meola then doubled down the left-field line to drive in two runs. The Colonials intentionally walked both
Alicia Hibbard (Canastota) and Kardias to load the bases, but the move backfired when Gallo hit a single that just eluded a diving left fielder. Two runs scored on the hit, and Kardias scored on an error on Western's attempt to get Gallo going to second.
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