Posted: May 06, 2013
The Red Dragons (28-14) will be the fifth seed at the regional and will open versus fourth-seeded The College of New Jersey (26-13) Thursday at noon. Other opening matchups Thursday at the regional include top-seeded St. John Fisher College (32-12) versus eighth-seeded Western Connecticut State University (22-22) at 10 a.m., third-seeded Lebanon Valley College (Pa.) (32-5-1) against sixth-seeded Penn St.-Berks (36-3) at 2 p.m., and second-seeded Utica College (33-12) versus seventh-seeded Washington College (Md.) (26-17) at 4 p.m.
The winner of the double-elimination regional will advance to the eight-team NCAA Div. III World Series in Eau Claire, Wis., May 17-21.
Cortland will be making its 19th NCAA appearance, including its seventh in a row and 13th total under 19th-year head coach Julie Lenhart. The Red Dragons have advanced to the World Series six times during Lenhart’s tenure – 1998, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009 and 2011 – and seven times overall. The Red Dragons finished fourth nationally – its best World Series showing – in 2011.
Cortland finished second in the SUNYAC during the regular season, but won the league’s postseason tournament with a 4-0 record last weekend at Brockport. The Red Dragons’ tournament wins included a pair of 2-1 victories over Plattsburgh, one in 13 innings and the other in nine innings, and an 8-7 championship-round win over Geneseo in which Cortland trailed 7-0 after two innings.
Cortland and TCNJ split a doubleheader in New Jersey on March 23. The Lions won the opener, 3-0, and Cortland won the second game, 13-7. Cortland and St. John Fisher had their scheduled doubleheader canceled due to the weather on April 16. The Red Dragons did not play any of the other teams in the regional this spring.
NCAA Release (includes link to regional brackets)
