Cortland Ends Memorable Run For Softball

ITHACA, N.Y. - The top-seeded Cortland Red Dragons (40-7) defeated the sixth-seeded NYU-Poly Fighting Blue Jays (32-11) 7-3 in Saturday's elimination game of the NCAA Division III Softball Regional hosted at Ithaca College. The Red Dragons will face the winner of the Lebanon Valley in an elimination game at 4 p.m.

NYU-Poly is eliminated from the tournament after completing the best season in school history. The Lady Jays also became the first team in any sport to win an NCAA postseason playoff game.

The Red Dragons opened up a 6-0 lead, scoring in each of the first four innings, and outhit Polytechnic 14-9. Second baseman Donnalyn Cross and first baseman Emily Ringen had three hits apiece and three other Red Dragons recorded multiple hits.

Cross singled to lead off the game then stole the first of Cortland's four steals on the day and scored on a oneout single by Ringen. She and Ringen recorded RBI singles in the second after catcher Katie Fusco singled and third baseman Jackie Begnoche reached on an error. Cross picked up her third hit in as may innings with a run-scoring triple. The Red Dragons also scored third-inning runs on a throwing error and a wild pitch.

Center fielder Brooke Weidman's RBI single in the fourth capped the Cortland scoring.

Freshmen Elizabeth Shrandt (Newtown, PA) hit a two-run home run in the fifth for NYU-Poly. The Fighting Blue Jays scored their first run on a third-inning sacrifice fly by Annamarie Smith (Henderson, NV).

Mirande Merilli (Altoona, PA) (22-8) suffered the loss for NYU-Poly while senior Laura Buzzard (Warrington, PA) came in, in the fifth and held Cortland scoreless with three innings of one-hit relief.

Lyndsay Roswell earned the win for Cortland, allowing two earned runs over seven innings.