CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Cortland softball team advanced to the SUNYAC tournament finals with a thrilling best-of-three semifinal series win over visiting Buffalo State. The Red Dragons (19-8), the top seed in the East division, lost the first game to the West number-two seed Bengals (13-14), 6-3, but rallied to score three times in the bottom of the seventh to win the second game, 6-5, then exploded for 20 hits in an 18-6, five-inning victory in the decisive third game.
 
Cortland has qualified for the SUNYAC finals every year since 1998. The Red Dragons will host Geneseo, the West division champion, in the best-of-three finals next Saturday, May 15, at 11 a.m. The Knights swept Oneonta at home in the semifinals. Cortland and Geneseo have played in the last two SUNYAC finals, under the regular double-elimination tournament format, with Cortland winning at home in 2019 and Geneseo winning at home in 2018. The league temporarily switched to a divisional format and best-of-three semifinal and final series this spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
Buffalo St. 6, Cortland 3
 
Cortland led 3-0 after four innings, scoring twice in the third on a Taylor Felicello (Marlboro) RBI double and a Cailey Cuttita (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) RBI single and adding a run in the fourth on a Sabrina Caputo (Westbury/W.T. Clarke) RBI double.
 
Buffalo State, however, tied the game with a three-run top of the fifth. With two outs, Oriana Castello doubled and scored on a Hannah Kwasniewski single to right. Kwasniewski took second on the throw and scored on Kayla Wolinski's RBI double, and Sydney McIntosh followed with an RBI single up the middle.
 
The Bengals again rallied with two outs in the sixth. Savannah Sirico and Jenna Wlostowski hit back-to-back doubles to give the Bengals the lead. Castello was hit by a pitch and Kwasniewski hit an RBI double down the left field line. Buffalo St. added a run in the seventh on a Sirico RBI groundout.
 
Makena Adams went the distance in the circle for Buffalo State, allowing seven hits and one walk and striking out one. Karlee Weeden (Maybrook/Valley Central) started for Cortland and allowed five runs on eight hits in five and two thirds innings. Lindsey Richards (Liverpool/Cicero-North Syracuse) gave up a run on three hits over the final inning and a third.
 
Kwasniewski went 3-for-4 with two RBI, McIntosh was 2-for-3 with a walk and RBI, and Caitlyn Parsons was 2-for-3 with a walk as part of the Bengals' 11-hit attack. Cuttita finished 3-for-3 with an RBI and Megan Weber (Lockport/Starpoint) was 1-for-2 for Cortland.
 
Cortland 7, Buffalo St. 6
 
Cortland rallied in each of the last two innings to erase multi-run deficits. The Red Dragons were down 4-1 entering the bottom of the sixth, but Kelly O'Gorman (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) led off with a single and went to second on a Cuttita one-out single. With two outs, Jess Miller (Campbell Hall/Goshen) hit a three-run homer down the left field line – her first collegiate home run – to tie the game at 4-4.
 
Buffalo State responded in the top of the seventh. Kwasniewski doubled, Wolinski singled and McIntosh walked to load the bases with no outs. Parsons ripped a two-run double to right center to give the Bengals a 6-4 lead. Courtney Kane (Yaphank/Bellport), who started the game but was subbed for to start the fifth inning, re-entered after the Parsons double and got out of further trouble with a groundout, strikeout and pop-out.
 
Cortland's winning rally started with Weber was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. O'Gorman singled through the left side and, with one out, Cuttita singled through the right side to drive in Weber and cut the deficit to one. Adams relieved starter Carli Bogue and walked the next two batters, the latter being Miller with the bases loaded to tie the game. Alyssa Finno (Hurley/Kingston) followed with a sacrifice fly to right to bring home pinch runner Gina Meyers (Liverpool) with the winning run.
 
Buffalo State jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first on a McIntosh infield single, and they increased the lead to 4-0 in the fourth on Parsons' two-run homer and a Wlostowski two-out RBI single. Cortland picked up a run in the fourth on singles by Felicello and Cuttita, a groundout, and a Miller sac fly.
 
Kane, between her first four innings of work plus her relief inning in the seventh, finished with four runs allowed on seven hits over five innings. She struck out two and walked none and earned the win. Isabel Milazzo (Elmira/Elmira Notre Dame) gave up two runs in two innings of relief. Bogue allowed four runs over six innings and Adams suffered the loss after entering the game to start the bottom of the seventh.
 
Miller went 1-for-2 with a walk and five RBI, O'Gorman went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, and Cuttita finished 3-for-4 with an RBI for Cortland. McIntosh was 3-for-3 with a walk and RBI and Parsons was 2-for-4 with four RBI for Buffalo State.
 
Cortland 18, Buffalo St. 6 (5 inn.)
 
Cortland's offense pounded out 20 hits in the game, which was called after the top of the fifth due to the eight-run rule. The Red Dragons scored twice in the first and four times in the second to go up 6-0, only to see the Bengals scored five times in the top of the third to make it a 6-5 game.
 
Cortland, however, answered the guests' five-run frame with seven runs in the bottom of the third. Buffalo State got one back in the fourth, but Cortland added five in the bottom of the inning to increase its lead to the final 12-run margin.
 
Kane earned her second win of the day despite allowing six runs on seven hits over four innings. Richards tossed a scoreless fifth. Buffalo State starter Olivia Carr took the loss after giving up two runs in the first as Cortland never relinquished the lead from that point.
 
O'Gorman finished 4-for-4 with a homer, two doubles and seven RBI and four runs scored. She hit a three-run homer in the second and two-run doubles in the third and fourth innings. Miller didn't wait long to pick up her second collegiate homer as she hit a solo shot in the third. She finished 3-for-4 with three RBI.
 
Cuttita went 3-for-4 wit a double, two RBI and three runs, Lexi Szesnat (Colonie) was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI, Tori Reich (Cornwall) ended 2-for-2 with a walk and three runs scored, and Caputo scored three runs. Felicello added a two-run homer in the third.
 
McIntosh hit a two-run single in the third and went 2-for-3 with two RBI. Taylor Benton was 1-for-2 with a two-run single.
 
For the three games combined, Cuttita was 9-for-11 with two doubles and four RBI, O'Gorman went 8-for-12 with a homer, two doubles and seven RBI, and Miller was 4-for-9 with two homers and eight RBI.