ONEONTA, N.Y. -- The SUNY Oneonta softball team dropped both games in the Battle of the Red Dragons against Cortland, Monday afternoon. Both teams held onto the lead in each game, yet it was Cortland that took game one, 4-2, and game two, 8-3. Oneonta is now 6-12 on the season, 2-2 in the SUNYAC, while Cortland improved to 12-4 overall and 2-2 in the conference.
Game One: Oneonta 2, Cortland 4
Oneonta gained the lead first in the bottom of the second when freshman
Ava Thys (Fairfax, Va./James W. Robinson Secondary (Va.)) poked a single to right field and scored freshman
Maya Nelsen (South Salem, N.Y./John Jay Cross River) from second. Cortland tied it, 1-1, after Gina Meyers tripled and later scored when Halle Wright got caught in an intentional rundown heading to second.
Cortland went ahead, 2-1, in the top of the fifth on a bases-loaded walk. With the bases still loaded, Cortland scored two more runs off a fielding error to go up 4-1. Freshman
Ella Stewart (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) scored the last run for Oneonta in the seventh inning off a throwing error as Cortland held on to game one.
Thys finished game one 1-for-3 with an RBI and Stewart went 1-for-3 and scored a run. Senior
Marissa Dionisio (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) (1-5) pitched 4.0 innings, struck out two, and allowed two runs on two hits. Sophomore
Anna Torgersen (Chester, NJ/Mendham) pitched the final 3.0 innings, struck out one, and allowed two unearned runs off one hit.
McKenna Barry (7-1) pitched the complete game for Cortland, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits.
Game Two: Oneonta 3, Cortland 8
Oneonta jumped out of the gate in game two and scored three runs in the first inning. Senior
Delaney Haley (Levittown, N.Y./Division Avenue) led off with a walk and stole second. Senior
Adriana Fiori (Newtown, CT/Brookfield) laid down a bunt to reach first then got caught in a rundown that scored Haley while she reached second safely. Oneonta had junior
Sophia Mangone (Ardsley, N.Y./Ardsley) and Fiori on the corners when Mangone stole second to allow Fiori to cross home. Mangone scored the last run on a sacrifice fly from senior
Victoria Hussey (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown East).
Cortland scored six in the top of the third to take a 6-3 lead. Wright hit a sacrifice fly before Barry hit a two-run home run to tie the game. Gabby Baumann and Tori Reich hit back-to-back singles to score the other three runs. Julz Koch scored the final two runs for Cortland with a two-run single in the sixth inning.
Senior
Gianna Cancelleri (Naples, FL/Washingtonville (NY)) and Thys each finished 2-for-3. Fiori had an RBI and scored a run, while Haley and Mangone each recorded a hit and scored a run. Junior
Cadence Brennan (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) (1-2) received the loss after pitching 2.2 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits. Freshman
Emily Brown (Westbury, N.Y./Clarke) pitched 2.1 innings, struck out three, and allowed two runs on five hits.
Cortland had five players record multiple hits in game two. Barry (8-1) got the win after pitching 5.0 scoreless innings, striking out one and allowing four hits. Kaeli Murtagh started the game for Cortland, pitched 2.0 innings and allowed three runs on four hits.
Oneonta next plays on Wednesday against Hamilton in a doubleheader starting at 3:30 pm at the Red Dragon Softball Stadium.
