ONEONTA, N.Y. - Lainie Ornstein (Yorktown Heights/Yorktown) and Halle Wright (Ballston Spa) beat out grounders for RBI singles to break a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the fourth and top-seeded Cortland went on to defeat fifth-seeded Oneonta, 6-3, during Day 1 of the SUNYAC Softball tournament.
 
The opening four games of the tournament were moved from Cortland to Oneonta's turf field due to weather and field conditions. No games will be played on Friday due to the forecasted weather; the tournament will resume on Saturday in Cortland.
 
The tournament, under a new format this season, began with two single-elimination games. Third-seeded Buffalo State defeated sixth-seeded Plattsburgh, 8-0 in five innings, and Oneonta defeated fourth-seeded Fredonia, 8-1, to earns spots in the four-team, double-elimination portion of the tournament. Buffalo State then defeated second-seeded New Paltz, 8-2, prior to Cortland's win over Oneonta.
 
Saturday's action is scheduled to begin with Cortland versus Buffalo State in a winner's bracket game at 10 a.m., followed by New Paltz versus Oneonta in an elimination game at noon. The two remaining one-loss teams will play at 2 p.m., and the tournament will conclude Sunday with a championship round beginning at noon.
 
Oneonta (18-18) took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first when Sophia Mangone doubled with one out and Julia Serena blasted a two-run homer to straightaway center. Cortland (21-14) tied the game in the bottom of the third. Ornstein walked and went to third on a Wright single. Oneonta starter Emily Brown retired the next two batters before Maggie Cummings (Holland Patent) laced a two-run double to left to knot the game at 2-2.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, Kaeli McAnally (Islip) hit a triple to right with one out. She was actually caught in a rundown between third and home during the play but managed to escape being tagged out and dove back safely into third. With two outs, Ornstein hit a ball to the pitcher but beat the throw to first, plating McAnally with the go-ahead run. After Ornstein stole second, Wright followed with a grounder to short and she also beat the throw, and Ornstein raced in from second to give Cortland a 4-2 lead.
 
Cummings was hit by a pitch with one out in the fifth, advanced to third on Shelby LaMont's (Amsterdam) double and scored on a Shannon Scotto (Putnam Valley/Lakeland) sac fly to push the lead to 5-2. Oneonta rallied in the sixth when Ava Thys led off with a double, Mangone reached on an error and Serena singled to left to drive in a run. Oneonta had runners on first and third with one out and hit a grounder to second. Cummings fielded the ball, tagged the runner heading to second and threw to first to complete the double play and keep Cortland's lead at 5-3. Cortland then added an insurance run in the bottom of the inning as Kayla Pendergast (West Hempstead) singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on Wright's single up the middle.
 
Wright finished 4-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored, Ornstein was 1-for-2 with a walk, RBI and two runs, and Cummings went 1-for-2 with a double and two RBI. McKenna Barry (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) started and went four innings for the victory. She allowed two runs on three hits with a strikeout and two walks. Gianna Endieveri (Glens Falls) entered to start the fifth and tossed the final three innings for the save. She allowed one run on two hits, struck out three and did not walk a batter.
 
Serena finished 2-foe-3 with a homer and three RBI and Thys was 2-for-3 with a double for Oneonta. Brown, who earned a victory earlier in the day versus Fredonia, went the first three innings against Cortland and gave up two runs on three hits with three strikeouts and two walks. Cadence Brennan suffered the loss after giving up three hits and two runs in two thirds of an inning in the fourth.