CORTLAND, NY -- The Cortland Red Dragons recorded a sweep over Union in non-league softball action Sunday afternoon. The Red Dragons won the opener, 7-2, and held on for a 3-1 victory in the nightcap.
Cortland opened the scoring on the first batter of the bottom of the first with one of the season's most exciting plays. Jamie Bucci hit the ball to deep center field over a drawn-in outfield. Bucci never stopped running and beat the relay throw home for an inside-the-park homer and the Red Dragons led 1-0. Union came back to take the lead with two runs in the third.
Joanna Chalifoux hit a double to right center to score two runs and give the Dutchwomen a 2-1 advantage.
Cortland rallied to tie the game in the fifth. Pinch hitter Andrea Schoonmaker led off with an infield single and was bunted to second. Pinch hitter Kaleigh Churchill followed with a single to move Schoonmaker to third. Rosie Phillips then hit a fly ball to shallow center that Camile Corbin made a nice sliding catch on, but Schoonmaker tagged up and scored to tie the game. After Union stranded runs on first and second in the sixth, Cortland started its go-ahead rally as Wolstenholme hada two-run single and Stoddard hit an RBI double to right center to give Cortland a 5-2 lead. The final two runs scored on a wild pitch and a Cork RBI single for her second hit of the inning.
Jamie Lachall started for Cortland and threw a complete-game six-hitter to improve to 8-2. She struck out four and walked two. Allyson Stats tossed five and a third innings for Union and gave up six runs on nine hits with three strikeouts. Barbato went 2-for-4 with two doubles and Cork finished 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Bucci was 1-for-3 with a walk and her inside-the-park homer. Corbin finished 2-for-3 and Chalifoux was 1-for-3 with a double and two RBI for Union.
In the second game, Bucci went 3-for-3 with a run scored to lead Cortland in its second victory. She started the scoring almost single-handedly in the bottom of the first when she singled, stole second, tagged and went to third on a flyout, and scored on that play after an errant throw from center field. In the second, Wolstenholme led off with a single and later scored on a Schoonmaker double to center. The Red Dragons extended their lead to 3-0 in the fifth on a Barbato RBI fielder's choice. The Dutchwomen got to Alonzo for a run in the sixth.
Dani Hennel led off with a double and scored on a one-out Staats single to left.
Alonzo (5-0) earned the win with two and a third innings of two-hit ball. She gave up one run and struck out four. Alexandrea Flint gave up one hit in a scoreless seventh for her first save. Sarah Salamone started and did not allow a run over the first three and two thirds innings, but did not pitch the necessary four innings to qualify for the victory. She gave up four hits and fanned two. Staats went the distance for Union and gave up three runs, two earned, on six hits over six innings. She struck out two and walked two. She was also 2-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and Hennel finished 1-for-3 with a run scored.
Union has another non-league twinbill on tap Tuesday, as the Dutchwomen host SUNY Oneonta at 3:30 p.m. at Alexander Field
