CORTLAND, N.Y. - Niki Barbato (East Meadow/Holy Trinity) homered and drove in four runs as top-seeded  and host Cortland opened play in the SUNYAC Tournament with an 11-3 victory over sixth-seeded Oneonta. The game was called after the top of the fifth due to the eight-run rule.

Cortland (26-11) is scheduled to face Buffalo State in the first game of the tournament's second day Friday at 9 a.m. Thursday's other first-day results included: second-seeded Oswego edging fifth-seeded New Paltz, 3-2, with two runs in the bottom of the seventh; third-seeded Plattsburgh defeating fourth-seeded Buffalo St., 5-4, also with a two-run bottom of the seventh after the Bengals had scored four times in the top of the seventh; and Oneonta defeating New Paltz, 14-5, in an elimination game.

Jamie Lachall (Philadephia, PA/Sun Valley) earned the win for Cortland to improve to 11-5 on the season. She allowed five hits and three unearned runs over five innings with two strikeouts and no walks. Oneonta starter Sabrina DeAngelis allowed 11 runs, but only four earned, on 10 hits in three and a third innings. The teams combined to commit eight errors - five by Cortland and three by Oneonta.

Barbato finished 3-for-3 with four RBI and two runs scored. Kelly O'Gorman (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) was 3-for-3 with a double, RBI and two runs, and Andrea Schoonmaker (Marlboro) was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Brooke Corbett and Killeen Martin each finished 1-for-2 for Oneonta (23-13 after its win vs. New Paltz).

Cortland took the lead with six runs in the bottom of the second. O'Gorman led off with a double and scored on an error during a Kaleigh Churchill (Camillus/West Genesee) sac bunt. Later in the inning, two runs scored on an error during a fielder's choice grounder, and Barbato followed with a three-run blast to left center.

Oneonta took advantage of three Cortland errors to score three runs in the third with only one hit. The first two runs scored on a throwing error on a sac bunt, and the third came home on a Marlene Cuevas RBI groundout.

Cortland pushed home five runs in the fourth to go up 11-3. Barbato and O'Gorman singled in runs, with an error in the outfield on O'Gorman's hit allowing two more runs to score. O'Gorman eventualy scored from third on an illegal pitch. Oneonta led off the top of the fifth with back-to-back singles, but Lachall got the next hitter to ground into a third-to-first double play, and she struck out the final batter.

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