GENESEO, N.Y. - With the help of a promising forecast the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) women's softball tournament completed their first day of play Thursday in Geneseo.
The morning started off with No. 1 seeded Geneseo taking on No. 6 seeded Buffalo State. This game proved to be a quiet start when compared to the remaining three games of the day. Despite the Bengals being the first on the board in the second inning, the Knights quickly replied to tie the game. The Bengals attempted to break the tie by posting another run in the third inning. This run was soon followed by the bases loaded walk drawn by senior Tori Fahie to tie the game for the Knights. Junior Kylie Papagelos then brought home the go-ahead run on a sacrafice fly. Knights junior Alyssa Persich added a two-run single to extend the Geneseo lead to three runs. The remainder of the game was scoreless for both teams and then Knights chalked up their first victory of the tournament with a score of 5-2. With this loss the Bengals would go on to play the loser of Game 2 in Game 4.
Game 2 of the morning was a matchup of No. 2 seeded Cortland versus No. 5 seeded Plattsburgh. Plattsburgh took the lead in the fifth inning when junior Anna Fisher hit a single to drive in senior Kelsey Gage. The Cardinals made it a two run game in the sixth when senior Amanda Tantillo drove in freshman Shannon Myles. The Red Dragons finally put numbers on the board late in the bottom of the sixth inning. Both sophmore Kelly O'Gorman and senior Skyler Hoyt drew walks and junior Hannah Feldman was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs. Freshman Taylor Felicello singled to bring in a run followed by sophmore Tori Scharff's double to bring in two more giving Cortland a 3-2 lead. The Red Dragaons added to their lead with a two-run single hit by freshman Cailey Cuttita. The final runs of the game were scored by the Red Dragons in this same inning on a misplayed hit and an RBI single hit by O'Gorman, giving the Red Dragons a 7-2 lead ultimately giving them the game. The Red Dragons will play Friday at 11 a.m. vs the Oneonta Red Dragons in Geneseo.
Game 3 of the tournament was between No. 3 seeded Oswego and No. 4 seeded Oneonta. The Oswego Lakers were the first to put a run on the board in the second inning when freshman Taylor DuBois sended a single to bring junior Erin Sweeny home. The Lakers extended their lead to 2-0 in the third inning when sophmore Jessica Roe hit a single to bring freshman Madelana Wrubel home. Oneonta remained scoreless until the sixth inning when with two runners on, junior Lauren Sabatino hit a double to the right center field gap scoring both junior Dana Del Genio and junior Selena Ruiz to tie the game. With neither teams being able to score in the seventh the game went into extra innings. Both teams kept quiet at the plate until the eleventh inning when Oneonta broke the tie with a pair of hits and error bringing freshman Kristen Collins in to win the game 3-2. Oneonta will go on to play the Geneseo Knights Friday at 11 a.m. in Geneseo.
The final game of the day, Game 4, was a matchup of the Plattsburgh Cardinals and Buffalo State Bengals in the first elimianation game of the tournament. In another close game the Cardinals were the first on the board when senior Felicia Torres scored the first run on a dropped fly ball in the bottom of the second. Buffalo State tooke a 3-1 lead in the top of the third when junior Julia Blujus drove in the first run with an RBI single, followed by a bases loaded walk by junior Cassie O'Hern, and then another run on a wild pitch. Cardinals senior Dominique Zummo cut the gap 3-2 with an RBI single in the bottom of the third. Junior Jennifer Groat gave the Cardinals a 4-3 lead in the bottom half of the fifth when she scored on a wild pitch. The last score for the Bengals came from senior Justine Silva in the top of the seventh inning when she singled and then score on an error on an infield grounder. The game went into extra innings, but not for long. Senior Cardinal Taylor Smith hit a single deep into left-center to load the bases which set the stage for junior Anna Fisher whose flyout would be enough to bring junior Jennifer Sarcone home, ending the game 5-4. The Bengals end their tournament run with this game, and the Cardinals will play at 1 p.m. Friday against the loser of the 11 a.m. game.
