CORTLAND, N.Y. – The Cortland softball team swept a doubleheader versus SUNYAC co-leader Buffalo State, defeating the visiting Bengals in games that lasted only a combined two hours and two minutes. The Red Dragons won the opener, 10-1 in five innings, in a game that went only 52 minutes, and Cortland completed the sweep with a 4-1 victory in one hour, 10 minutes.
Cortland (19-11, 10-4 SUNYAC) moved into second place in the league standings with 20 points, while Buffalo State (20-10, 9-3 SUNYAC) dropped to third place with 18 points. Cortland hosts Fredonia in a doubleheader Friday that has been moved up to a noon start due to the weather forecast.
Cortland 10, Buffalo St. 0 (5 inn.)
The 52-minute opener is Cortland's first game to last less than an hour since a 59-minute, 9-0 win at Buffalo State in April of 2010.
Karlee Weeden (Maybrook/Valley Central), now 8-6, tossed a two-hit shutout with one walk and two strikeouts in five innings. She allowed a one-out walk by Sydney Bielicki in the first, a two-out single to Oriana Castello in the third and a one-out single to Caitlyn Parsons in the fourth. No Bengals' runner reached second base.
Cortland sent nine batters to the plate and scored five runs in both the first and second innings. In the first, an error on a
McKenna Barry (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) sac bunt allowed the first run to score.
Brooke Scheibe (Sayville) drove in a run with a groundout to second,
Shannon Scotto (Putnam Valley/Lakeland) singled in a run and, two batters later,
Kimberly Westenberg (Massapequa Park/Massapequa) hit a two-run homer to left.
Cortland's five-run second featured a Scotto RBI single, a
Tori Reich (Cornwall) bases-loaded walk, and a Westenberg three-run double down the left field line. Westenberg finished 2-for-3 with a homer, double and five RBI, Scotto was 2-for-3 with two RBI,
Halle Wright (Ballston Spa) was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and Reich scored two runs. Buffalo St. starter Madison Lucas gave up 10 runs, seven earned, on seven hits in four innings.
Cortland 4, Buffalo St. 1
Barry went the distance in the circle for the win in Game 2 and is now 7-2 on the year. She allowed one run on six hits with a walk and two strikeouts. Buffalo State's Kaitlyn Schnitzer was tagged for nine hits and four runs in six innings.
Cortland scored in the first when
Gina Meyers (Liverpool) led off with a double, was bunted to third by Wright and scored on a Barry single. In the second, Reich led off with a single and Westenberg reached on a fielder's choice, forcing Reich at second.
Julz Koch (New City/Clarkstown South) followed with a two-run homer to left to put Cortland up 3-0.
Buffalo State got a run back in the third. Castello doubled with two outs and Bieliecki reached on an infield single to second. Castello never stopped running on the play and scored from second. Cortland finished the scoring in the fifth when Barry doubled with one out and pinch runner
Megan LaMont (Amsterdam) scored on a Scotto two-out single.
Barry, in addition to her complete game, finished 3-for-3 at the plate with a double and an RBI. Scotto was 2-for-3 with an RBI and Koch went 1-for-3 with her two-run homer. Parsons was 2-for-3 and Castello finished 2-for-4 for the Bengals.
