GENESEO, N.Y. - Cortland split two games during the second day of competition at the SUNYAC Softball double-elimination tournament. The second-seeded Red Dragons defeated fourth-seeded New Paltz, 5-3, before falling to host and top-seeded Geneseo, 6-4.
 
Cortland (25-14) will face New Paltz in an elimination game Saturday at 11 a.m. The winner of that contest will face Geneseo in the following game and would need to defeat the Knights both on Saturday and Sunday to win the tournament. Geneseo is 3-0 so far at the tournament after wins over Oneonta and Cortland on Friday. Cortland and New Paltz are both 2-1.
 
Cortland 5, New Paltz 3
 
Karlee Weeden (Maybrook/Valley Central) earned her second win at the tournament after allowing three runs, two earned, over seven innings. She gave up six hits and three walks and struck out six to improve to 13-4 on the season. New Paltz starter Lindsay Roman gave up two runs, one earned, in three and a third innings.
 
Alyssa Finno (Hurley/Kingston) finished 3-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI to account for 60 percent of Cortland's five hit. Lizzy Byers (New Paltz) was 1-for-3 with a double and two RBI and Gina Meyers (Liverpool) went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Carol Ann Campsey homered for the Hawks (27-16 after their ensuing win over Plattsburgh) and finished 3-for-4.
 
Cortland scored in the first when Elaina Ornstein (Yorktown Heights/Yorktown) reached third on a throwing error after a grounder to the pitcher and scored on a Meyers single. Campsey's solo homer in the top of the second tied the game, but Cortland took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth on an error, a one-out Julz Koch (New City/Clarkstown South) walk and a Finno RBI single.
 
The Red Dragons added what proved to be three crucial insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. After an error and a one-out Koch walk, Finno hit a double to drive in a run and Byers hit a two-run double to center.
 
New Paltz started the top of the seventh with a Madison Maggs pinch-hit homer to draw within 5-2. After a walk and a Katie Quagliana single, Weeden retired the next two batters on flyouts. An error on a Campsey grounder allowed a run to score, but Weeden fanned the next batter to end the game.

Geneseo 6, Cortland 4
 
Geneseo (33-4), ranked 21st nationally in Division III, overcame 2-0 and 4-3 deficits for the victory. The Knights broke a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the sixth with a one-out Samantha Martz single, a two-out Rebecca Schwartz walk and Kaitlyn Schmitz's two-run triple down the right field line.
 
Cortland opened with a run in the top of the first. Ornstein singled and went to second on an error, and Meyers singled to move Ornstein to third. Meyers was thrown out trying to steal second, but on the play Ornstein easily scored. The Red Dragon lead grew to 2-0 in the second. Koch was hit by a pitch, Finno singled and Tori Reich (Cornwall) hit a one-out single to load the bases. Hannah Fairbrother (Wayland/Wayland-Cohocton) hit a chopper past the third baseman that the shortstop fielded to record a force at third, but the play drove in a run.
 
Geneseo tied the game on Katherine Hayes' two-run single in the second and the Knights took a 3-2 lead in the third when Schmitz led off with a double, Taylor Riccardi singled and Audrey Minton hit an RBI single.
 
The guests regained the lead in the fourth. Finno led off with a single and Byers cracked a two-run, opposite-field homer to right for her 13th round-tripper of the season. The Red Dragons had a chance to extend their lead in the top of the fifth but stranded runners on first and third.
 
Geneseo tied the game in the fifth. With runners on first and third and two outs, Olivia Fazio intentionally got into a rundown between first and second. Cortland was unable to tag Fazio out, and Schmitz scored standing up from third to complete the double steal.
 
Finno finished the game 3-for-4 and was a combined 6-for-7 during Cortland's two games during the day. Ornstein went 2-for-4. Schmitz paced the Knights' offense with a 3-for-3 effort along with a hit by pitch and two RBI, Martz finished 2-for-2 with a walk and Minton went 2-for-3 with an RBI.
 
Geneseo's Lauren Kersch improved to 15-0 with a complete-game victory. She allowed four runs, three earned, on 10 hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Isabel Milazzo (Elmira/Elmira Notre Dame) started for Cortland and allowed three runs in two-plus innings. Lindsey Richards (Liverpool/Cicero-North Syracuse) gave up three runs over the final four innings and suffered just her second loss in nine decisions this spring.