CORTLAND, N.Y. - The Cortland softball team split a doubleheader against visiting Buffalo State, falling 8-3 in the opening game before jumping out to a big lead early in the nightcap on the way to a 12-2 win in five innings.
 
Cortland (18-11, 9-3 SUNYAC) is in second place in the SUNYAC standings with the split. Buffalo State is now 19-11 overall and 6-6 in the conference. Cortland will host Fredonia on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in a league doubleheader.
 
Buffalo State 8, Cortland 3
 
The opener was dominated by Buffalo State's Ella Stewart, who hit her first two homers of the season and finished 3-for-4 with six runs batted in and two runs scored. She hit a solo homer in the first, and her three-run round-tripper in the second was part of a four-run inning to give the Bengals a 5-0 lead. Her two-run double in the sixth, with Buffalo State's lead trimmed to 5-3, capped a three-run inning to create the final 8-3 score.
 
Lexi Quagliana finished 2-for-4 with a double and two runs and Ashley Jedrich walked twice and scored two runs for Buffalo State. Izzy Pezdek tossed a complete game for the win, allowing three runs, two earned, on eight hits in seven innings. She struck out five and did not walk anyone.
 
For Cortland, Shelby LaMont (Amsterdam) went 2-for-4 with a double, Emily Stavola (Somers) finished 2-for-3, and Kaeli McAnally (Islip) hit her first collegiate homer - a two-run shot in the third that drew Cortland within 5-3. Cortland's other run came in the second on a Kayla Pendergast (West Hempstead) two-out RBI single.
 
Gianna Endieveri took the loss, allowing five runs in an inning and two thirds. Riley Firenze (Selden/Newfield) went four and a third innings in relief, giving up three runs in the sixth after blanking the Bengals for three and a third innings. Molly Farley (Goshen/Chester Academy) struck out two batters in a scoreless seventh inning.
 
Cortland 12, Buffalo State 2 (5 inn.)
 
Cortland scored five runs in the first inning, three in the second and four in the third to take a 12-0 lead on the way to a 12-2 win in five innings. The Red Dragons finished with 12 hits, with every starter registering at least one hit.
 
LaMont went 2-for-3 with a double and four RBI and Emma Robins (Levittown/Division Avenue) was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI. McAnally finished 1-for-2 with a walk and two runs, Katie Stork (Massapequa) ended 2-for-3 with a triple, hit by pitch and three runs scored, and Laila Smith (Guilderland) was 1-for-3 with a walk, RBI and three runs.
 
Olivia DiSalvo (Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood) picked up the win after giving up one run on five hits and a walk in four innings. Kaitlyn Macumber (Deposit) gave up a run on three hits and fanned a batter in the fifth.
 
Mya Hurley went 3-for-3 with a double and Deme Kellogg finished 1-for-2 with an RBI for Buffalo State. Gianna Core took the loss, allowing five runs without recording an out in the first inning.
 
Cortland's five-run first included a LaMont two-run double, a Robins RBI double and a Shannon Scotto (Putnam Valley/Lakeland) bunt single that brought home two runs as Robins hustled home from second after the Bengals were unable to make a play to get Scotto.
 
In the second, Smith singled in a run, and later stole home after a first-and-third double steal following a McAnally walk. Maggie Cummings (Holland Patent) doubled in a run two batters later. The Red Dragons' four-run third featured a LaMont two-run single and a Robins two-run infield single. The Robins hit deflected off the pitcher's glove and rolled slowly to second. Robins beat out the play for a hit, and pinch runner Anj Ferrara (Niskayuna) raced home behind Smith for the second of the two runs on the play.
 
Buffalo State's runs came via a Kellogg RBI single in the fourth and a Maddie McGowan RBI single in the fifth.