SUNY Cortland Athletics

BETHLEHEM, PA. - Kyra Holtje tossed a six-hit shutout and Marcie Silberman homered and drove in five runs as second-seeded Moravian University defeated fourth-seeded Cortland, 7-0, to win the NCAA Division III Bethlehem, Pa. Softball Regional.
 
Moravian (35-10), the host school, advances to the NCAA Super Regional round next week against an opponent to be determined. Cortland, which needed two wins over the Greyhounds in Saturday's championship round, finishes the season with a 27-17 record. The Red Dragons placed second in regional play for the second straight year and finish tied for 17th nationally.
 
Holtje struck out five and didn't walk anyone in the win. Silberman finished 3-for-4 with a homer, double and five RBI, while Samantha Derickson went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI.
 
Gianna Endieveri (Glens Falls) allowed three runs in the first inning on a Silberman 3-run homer. She was the first of five Cortland pitchers in the contest. Laila Smith (Guilderland) finished 2-for-4, Kaeli McAnally (Islip) was 1-for-3 with a triple, Katie Stork (Massapequa) finished 1-for-3 with a double, and Morgan Ellerbrock (Colonie) was 1-for-3.
 
Smith, McAnally and Endieveri represented Cortland on the regional all-tournament team. Smith finished the tournament 8-for-14 with a walk in four games. McAnally went 3-for-8 with a walk, steal, two sac bunts and two runs scored. Endieveri tossed a shutout Friday in a win over top-seeded Westfield State.
 
Moravian took the lead in the first when Sydney Andrews walked with one out, Joltje singled and Silberman hit a three-run homer to left. Derickson hit an RBI double in the third to make it 4-0, Silberman added a two-run single in the fourth, and Derickson closed the scoring with an RBI single in the sixth.
 
Cortland's best scoring opportunities came in the first two innings. Smith led off the game with a single and Stork doubled to put runners on second and third, but Holtje escaped with a strikeout and two groundouts to end the inning. In the second, the Red Dragons had runners on first and third with one out, but a caught stealing and a strikeout ended that threat. McAnally tripled with two outs in the fourth but was stranded at third.