Buffalo State 6, Cortland 2
Ithaca, N.Y. -- Fourth-seeded Buffalo State (33-13) defeated top-seeded Cortland (43-7) 6-2 Sunday afternoon in the first game of the championship round in the double-elimination NCAA Division III Softball Tournament regional being held at Ithaca College. The Bengals sent 10 batters to the plate in a five-run fifth inning that helped them to the victory. It was the first loss of the tournament for the top-seeded Red Dragons and the same teams will play again at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Both teams now have one loss in the regional and the winner of Sunday's second game will advance to the NCAA Division III Softball World Series at Montclair State.
An RBI single from Buffalo State's Julie Joyce tied the score in the bottom of the fifth and Jolene Banach followed with an RBI single that brought home Joyce and gave the Bengals a 3-2 lead. Nicole Sabuda hit a two-run home run down the left field line that stretched the Buffalo State lead to 5-2.
Buffalo State's Jenna Frieling was the winning pitcher. She pitched seven innings with two strikeouts and allowed 10 hits and three walks, and improved to 12-10 on the season. Katie Finch took the loss for Cortland, falling to 25-5 on the season. She struck out five batters in four and two-thirds innings.
Cortland's Donnalyn Cross and Crystal Carlson had two hits each including a double apiece. Joyce had two hits and scored twice for trhe Bengals.