TROY, N.Y. - RPI scored three times in the fifth to break a 4-4 tie in Game 1 and scored in the bottom of the eighth to win Game 2 as the Engineers swept a doubleheader versus visiting Cortland, 7-5 and 6-5, in non-league softball action at RPI's Doris Robison Field.
 
RPI improved to 18-4 with the wins and Cortland dropped to 4-12. The Red Dragons have lost eight games by two runs or less, including four extra-inning contests. Cortland begins SUNYAC play at home versus Canton on Friday, weather permitting.
 
RPI 7, Cortland 5
 
RPI took a 4-0 lead after two innings. Callista Adorno hit a solo homer in the first and Lauren Cosselman hit an RBI single and Evann McDowell added a two-run single in a three-run second.
 
Cortland rallied to tie the game at 4-4 in the top of the third. With two outs and runners on second and third, McKenna Barry (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) walked to load the bases and Maggie Cummings (Holland Patent) hit an RBI single to left. Julz Koch (New City/Clarkstown South) walked to force in a run and Kaeli McAnally (Islip) followed with a two-run single to right.
 
RPI broke the tie in the fifth on Addison Shaffer's RBI single and Sarah Decker's two-run single. Cortland got a run back in the seventh on first-and-third double steal attempt - the runner was thrown out at second for the second out but Emily Stavola (Somers), who pinch ran earlier in the inning, came in to score.
 
The Engineers finished with 12 hits. McDowell went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI while Shaffer and Cosselman each went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Maggie Kreis allowed four unearned runs in two and two thirds innings. Ava Markert entered in the third and went the final four and a third innings for the win. She gave up three hits and one run with two strikeouts.
 
McAnally was 2-for-3 with two RBI while Koch and Barry each drew two walks for the Red Dragons. Barry opened in the circle and gave up six hits and four runs with two strikeouts in two innings. Riley Firenze (Selden/Newfield) pitched three innings and gave up three runs on five hits with one strikeout to take the loss. Sophia Wahl (Schuylerville) pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
 
RPI 6, Cortland 5 (8 inn.)
 
Cortland grabbed a 4-0 lead in the top of the first on Laila Smith's (Guilderland) RBI double, a Shannon Scotto (Putnam Valley/Lakeland) and Smith double steal of second and home, a Koch RBI single and a McAnally sac fly. The game stayed that way until RPI plated five runs in the bottom of the fifth. Sydney Speanburg and Adorno hit RBI singles, Shaffer tied the game with a two-run triple and Olivia Termi singled in a run to put RPI on top.
 
Cortland loaded the bases but couldn't score in the sixth, but the Red Dragons rallied to tie the game in the top of the seventh. Shelby LaMont (Amsterdam) led off with a double. Koch hit a deep ball to left that came up just short of a go-ahead homer. It turned into a double, but pinch runner Anj Ferrara (Niskayuna) had to wait as the ball was nearly caught and she advanced to third. With one out, Stavola hit a ball that got past the third baseman - the play was ruled an error, but Stavola was still credited with the RBI that tied the game.
 
RPI didn't score in the bottom of the seventh and the teams went to the NCAA tiebreaker rule in the eighth. Cortland was able to advance its runner to third on a Halle Wright (Ballston Spa) sac bunt but two groundouts to the pitcher ended the threat. In the bottom of the eighth, Decker bunted Kreis to third and Cosselman hit a smash to third. Smith made a quick diving stop but her throw home was not in time as the winning run scored.
 
Gianna Endieveri (Glens Falls) pitched the first five innings for Cortland and struck out six batters with no walks. She allowed 10 hits and five runs. Molly Farley (Goshen/Chester Academy) went the final two and a third innings and did not allow any hits or walks. The only run she was charged for was an unearned run when the tiebreaker runner came around to score.
 
Callie Volker started for RPI and was replaced in the first by Gaby Heim, who went six innings and allowed four hits, three walks and one unearned run with two strikeouts. Markert earned her second win of the day with two hitless and scoreless innings.
 
Koch went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI and LaMont was 2-for-4 with a double for the Red Dragons. Scotto drew two walks and McAnally was 1-for-3 with an RBI. For RPI, Speanburg was 2-for-4 and Shaffer tripled and drove in two runs.