NEW PALTZ, N.Y. - Gina Meyers (Liverpool) tripled in two runs to give Cortland the lead in the bottom of the fifth and Karlee Weeden (Maybrook/Valley Central) tossed a three-hitter as the Red Dragons defeated Plattsburgh, 4-2, during the opening day of the SUNYAC softball tournament at New Paltz's Mary Gray Deane Field. 
 
Cortland (24-11), seeded second in the six-team, double-elimination tournament, will face third-seeded Geneseo Friday at noon. Geneseo defeated fourth-seeded Buffalo State, 3-0, on Thursday. Plattsburgh was eliminated from the tournament later Thursday with a 3-2 loss in eight innings to sixth-seeded Oneonta. Top-seeded New Paltz opened the day with a 3-1 win over Oneonta and will face Buffalo State Friday at 10 a.m. 
 
Cortland took a 1-0 lead in the first on a Shannon Scotto (Putnam Valley/Lakeland) one-out RBI single but left the bases loaded. Plattsburgh took the lead in the top of the third on a Julia Golino one-out, two-run double, but Weeden escaped further damage with a strikeout and flyout. 
 
Weeden, now 11-6, allowed only one baserunner over the final four innings on a Danielle Torres leadoff walk in the seventh. She finished the game with four strikeouts and two walks. 
 
Plattsburgh starter Kristina Maggiacomo retired 11 straight Cortland batters from right after Scotto's RBI single in the first through the end of the fourth. In the bottom of the fifth, however, Julz Koch (New City/Clarkstown South) was hit by a pitch to start the inning and pinch runner Megan LaMont (Amsterdam) went to second on a passed ball. Elaina Ornstein (Yorktown Heights/Yorktown) singled and then stole second to put runners on second and third and Meyers followed with a two-run triple. The Red Dragons were unable to score again in the inning, but they did add an insurance run in the sixth when Tori Reich (Cornwall) singled with one out, stole second and scored on an error after a groundout. 
 
Meyers finished 2-for-3 with two RBI, Ornstein went 1-for-2 and Scotto, Reich and McKenna Barry (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) each finished 1-for-3 for the Red Dragons. Golino was 2-for-3 with two RBI for the Cardinals, who ended the season with a 22-12 record.