CLERMONT, FLA. –
Lizzy Byers (New Paltz) hit a grand slam as part of five-run first inning and Cortland defeated Wesleyan University of Connecticut, 6-2, in a softball non-league game at Legends Way Ballfield. Earlier in the day the Red Dragons fell to William Paterson, 6-4, as the Pioneers scored four times in the top of the seventh to overcome a 3-2 deficit.
Cortland (1-3) returns to Legends Way Ballfield Tuesday for a pair of games, facing Nichols at 9:15 a.m. and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts at 1:45 p.m.
William Paterson 6, Cortland 4
Cortland took a 1-0 lead in the third on a
Julz Koch (New City/Clarkstown South) bases-loaded walk. William Paterson (3-1) tied the game in the fourth on Lindsey Acker's pinch-hit RBI single, but the Red Dragons went up 3-1 in the top of the fifth.
Elaina Ornstein (Yorktown Heights/Yorktown) singled and stole second,
Gina Meyers (Liverpool) singled and took second on the throw to the infield to put runners on second and third, and
Tori Reich (Cornwall) and
McKenna Barry (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) hit back-to-back sacrifice flies to drive in runs.
Grace Gaskill's leadoff homer in the sixth drew the Pioneers within a run. In the seventh, the Pioneers put two runners on via a Kylie Bythrow infield single, a fielder's choice and an Anna Nunziato walk, and Carly McDaniel hit a three-run homer to left center to put William Paterson up 5-3. The lead grew to 6-3 later in the inning on Crystal Arendas' RBI single.
Cortland made a comeback bid in the bottom of the seventh. Ornstein singled with one out for her third hit of the game and went to second on a groundout. Reich singled to left to drive in a run, but a lineout to center ended the game.
Lexi Corio earned the win in relief for William Paterson with three innings of two-hit ball. She allowed one run. Jaelynn Miller started and gave up five hits, three walks and three runs in four innings with six strikeouts. Bythrow was 3-for-3 with two doubles and Caitlin Monahan went 2-for-4.
Isabel Milazzo (Elmira/Elmira Notre Dame) started for Cortland and allowed four runs in six and two thirds innings.
Cortland 6, Wesleyan 2
Cortland's big first inning started with an Ornstein bunt single and stolen base. She went to third on a groundout and scored on Reich's RBI single to the pitcher. A
McKenna Barry (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) walk and a Koch hit-by-pitch loaded the bases, and Wesleyan looked like they might escape further damage when a grounder to the pitcher resulted in a force at home for the second out. Byers, however, followed with a blast over the left-field fence for a grand slam and her first collegiate homer to put the Red Dragons ahead, 5-0.
Wesleyan (3-2) starter Revi Brown settled down after that, allowing only two baserunners over the next four innings on another Koch hit-by-pitch and a
Hannah Fairbrother (Wayland/Wayland-Cohocton) infield single. The Cardinals started to chip away at Cortland's lead with a two-run third inning on Sophia Sciarappa's RBI double and Brown's RBI single.
Still down 5-2 in the fifth, Wesleyan got a leadoff double from Sciarappa but she was thrown out trying to stretch the play to a triple on a relay from left fielder Fairbrother to shortstop Reich to third baseman
Alyssa Finno (Hurley/Kingston). In the sixth, the Cardinals loaded the bases on a one-out hit-by-pitch and infield single and a two-out error before a pop-up ended the threat.
Cortland added a key insurance run in the top of the sixth. Koch led off with a double and Byers reached on a one-out error.
Halle Wright (Ballston Spa) followed with a single between first and second. The second baseman knocked the hard-hit grounder down, but as it trickled away pinch runner
Megan LaMont (Amsterdam) raced around from second to score.
Karlee Weeden (Maybrook/Valley Central) earned the win with six innings of seven-hit pitching. She struck out four, walked two and allowed two runs.
Lindsey Richards (Liverpool/Cicero-North Syracuse) entered to start the seventh in what was technically a non-save situation and she preserved the victory by allowing just one walk and striking out one.
Brown took the loss for Wesleyan, allowing six hits, a walk and six runs in six innings. Sciarappa went 2-for-2 with two doubles, two walks and an RBI and Kendall Mancuso finished 2-for-3.
