The SUNY Oneonta softball team battled its rival from Cortland today in a SUNYAC doubleheader at home.  Unfortunately for the hosts, Cortland took both games by the scores of 9-7 and 9-5.  The second game of the twin bill was called in the top of the seventh inning because of darkness.
 
Cortland (29-9, 15-1 SUNYAC) jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning.  Jamie Bucci and Diane Cork led off with back-to-back singles before being moved into scoring position by Niki Barbato's sacrifice bunt.  The next batter was Kayleigh Churchill and she lined a double to to right field to score both Bucci and Cork.
 
In the second inning Bucci doubled home senior Erin Wolstenholme from second base to give Cortland a 3-0 lead.
 
Oneonta (20-15, 9-7 SUNYAC) got a pair back in the bottom of the frame.  Junior Jennifer Brocco (Kingston/Kingston) got things started with a double to right center and went to third on a fielder's choice that allowed freshman Selena Ruiz (Westbury/W.T. Clarke) to reach.  Brocco scored when Ruiz was caught stealing.
 
Freshman Alyssa Garrison (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) then doubled with two outs and came into score on an RBI single up the middle by sophomore Ashley Lefebvre (Waterford/Waterford-Halfmoon).
 
Brocco doubled again in the bottom of the third inning and came in with the tying run on a double by Ruiz.
 
Cortland scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings before pushing across four runs in the sixth to take a 9-4 lead.  The big blow in the inning was a triple down the right field line by Barbato that drove in a pair of runs.
 
Oneonta rallied in the bottom of the seventh inning before falling two runs short.  Freshman Dana DelGenio (New Hartford/New Hartford) hit a single up the middle to drive in the first two runs of the inning.  Oneonta then loaded the bases and pushed across another run before Brocco was thrown out trying to score from second base on a fielder's choice.
 
Freshman Sam Van Dorn picked up her sixth win of the season for Cortland.  She entered the game in the bottom of the fourth and kept Oneonta quiet until the seventh.
 
Brocco collected three hits in the opener while senior Jamie Whittam (Saugerties/Saugerties), Lefebvre, DelGenio and Ruiz all had two hits each.
 
Cortland scored early in game two to grab a 6-3 lead after two innings of play.  Barbato drove in all three of her runs in the game in the first two innings.
 
Oneonta rallied with two outs in the first to score a run on a single down the line by Brocco that knocked in classmate Marlene Cuevas (Wappingers Falls/Roy C. Ketcham), who started the rally with a single up the middle.
 
In the second inning, DelGenio scored on a sacrifice fly by Garrison for one run and then Lefebvre singled in Whittam to account for the other run.
 
Cortland added a single run in the fifth inning and led 7-3 entering the home half of the sixth.
 
In the sixth, Oneonta capitalized on a pair of Cortland errors to score a pair of runs.  Both runs came into score on an error by the second baseman that saw the ball roll into right field.  DelGenio and O'Gorman scored on the play.
 
Cortland had just scored two runs on an RBI single by Wolstenholme with two outs when the game was called.
 
Alexandrea Flint picked up her 12^th win of the season allowing eight hits, five runs (three earned) while recording one strikeout.
 
Oneonta will be finish the regular season at home tomorrow when they host Oswego for a doubleheader beginning at noon.