Posted: May 09, 2016
The SUNY Cortland softball team has earned a berth into the NCAA Div. III tournament for the second straight season by virtue of winning the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) title and will host a four-team regional May 13-15 at Dragon Field.
The Red Dragons (35-9) will be the second seed and will open the double-elimination regional versus third-seeded Keuka College (19-12) Friday at 1 p.m. Top-seeded Rowan University (N.J.) (35-8) will play fourth-seeded Castleton University (Vt.) (20-11) Friday at 3:30 p.m.
Play will continue with three games Saturday, starting at 11 a.m., and the championship round (possible two games) Sunday at noon.
The winner of the regional will advance to a two-team, best-of-three "super regional" May 20-21 versus the winner of the Ithaca College-hosted regional at a site to be determined. NCAA Div. III softball changed its tournament format to a regional/super-regional set-up in 2014. The eight super-regional winners will play in the NCAA Div. III World Series May 26-31 in Salem, Va.
Cortland will be making its 21st NCAA appearance, including its ninth in 10 years and 15th total under 22nd-year head coach Julie Lenhart. The Red Dragons have advanced to the World Series seven times during Lenhart's tenure – 1998, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013 – and eight times overall. The Red Dragons were the 2013 national runner-up and finished fourth nationally in 2011.
Cortland won the SUNYAC regular-season title and then captured the league's postseason tournament crown this past weekend at home. The Red Dragons went 4-0 at the tournament, capped by a 12-4 win over Buffalo State Sunday in the championship round.
Cortland and Keuka have met twice previously, both in NCAA play. The Red Dragons defeated the Wolfpack (then the Storm), 7-1, to open 2010 regional play in Ithaca and earned a 4-3 victory to begin play in the 2012 regionals in Amherst, Mass. Rowan and Cortland have played three times, with the Profs winning all three meetings. Rowan beat Cortland in 1994, 2015 and this spring, all in Florida. Cortland and Castleton have never met on the diamond.
NCAA Selection Release
