SUNY Cortland Athletics

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. - Cortland scored twice in the fifth and three times in the sixth to pull away from a 1-1 tie, and Gianna Endieveri (Glens Falls) and Kaitlyn Macumber (Deposit) combined on a three-hitter, as the Red Dragons defeated Buffalo State, 6-1, to claim their second straight SUNYAC title.
 
Cortland (25-15), the tournament's second seed, entered Sunday's championship round with a 2-0 record, including a 1-0 win over Buffalo State on Thursday. Buffalo State (28-13) needed to win twice on Sunday to claim the title. Cortland won its 18th SUNYAC title and earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III tournament. The 64-team national field will be announced Monday at 11 a.m. on NCAA.com.
 
Shortstop Kaeli McAnally (Islip) was named the tournament MVP and was joined on the all-tournament team by Endieveri, Macumber, second baseman Maggie Cummings (Holland Patent) and designated player Laila Smith (Guilderland).
 
Endieveri pitched the first five innings to earn the victory and improve to 11-7. She allowed three hits and one run with one walk and three strikeouts. Macumber retired all six batters she faced over the final two innings for her third save of the season, including two in the tournament.
 
Izzy Pezdek made her fifth start of the tournament for Buffalo State and allowed six runs, three earned, in five and two thirds innings. She walked three and struck out one. She posted three victories during the tournament and was named to the all-tournament team along with teammates Ashley Jedrich and Deme Kellogg. Rounding out the all-tourney squad were New Paltz's Leah Gunsett and Maddie Anderson, and Oneonta's Eva Blaney.
 
Cortland went up 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth when McAnally hit a one-out triple and scored on a Morgan Ellerbrock (Colonie) sacrifice fly to center. The Bengals tied the game in the top of the fifth. Natalie Burck led off with a single, went to second on Kellogg's sac bunt and advanced to third on Grace Albano's single to right. Jedrich hit a fly ball to left for a sacrifice fly to drive in Burck.
 
The Red Dragons responded in the bottom of the fifth for two runs to take the lead for good. Sam Pusloskie (Clarence) singled with one out and Katie Stork (Massapequa) hit a two-out single. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, and a ball hit by Shelby LaMont (Amsterdam) was misplayed to allow both runners to score.
 
Cortland tacked on three insurance runs in the sixth. Cummings was hit by a pitch with one out - her Division III national leading 24th HBP of the season. Shannon Scotto (Putnam Valley/Lakeland) singled to left to advance Cummings to third, with Scotto taking second on the throw to third. Pinch hitter Kayla Santo (Franklin Square/Valley Stream North) walked to load the bases and, with two outs, Smith singled to left to drive in Cummings and pinch runner Anj Ferrara (Niskayuna), with a third run also scoring on the play due to an error.
 
2026 SUNYAC Softball All-Tournament Team 

Eva Blaney, Oneonta
Leah Gunsett, New Paltz
Maddie Anderson, New Paltz
Ashley Jedrich, Buffalo State
Izzy Pezdek, Buffalo State
Deme Kellogg, Buffalo State
Maggie Cummings, Cortland
Gianna Endieveri, Cortland
Kaitlyn Macumber, Cortland
Laila Smith, Cortland
MVP - Kaeli McAnally, Cortland