Posted: May 15, 2013
The eight-team, double-elimination tournament continues on Saturday with four games, along with four games Sunday, two Monday, and one, if needed, on Tuesday.
Cortland finished fourth with a 2-2 record at the 2011 World Series in Salem, Va., for its best-ever national showing. The Red Dragons also tied for fifth nationally in both 2008 and 2003 with 1-2 records in Salem and tied for seventh with 0-2 records in 2009 (Montclair, N.J.), 2004 (Salem) and 1998 (Salem). The Red Dragons tied for fifth nationally in 1985 with a 0-2 record in a six-team field in Willimantic, Conn.
Only one team in this year’s Series has won a national title – Central College (Iowa) has won four titles, along with two runner-up finishes, but returns to the Series for the first time since winning the 2003 national crown. Salisbury has been national runner-up twice (2003 and 2005) and Montclair State was runner-up in 1997. Three teams – Luther, Montclair State and Tufts – return from last year’s Series; Luther is actually making its fourth straight Series appearance.
2013 NCAA Div. III Softball World Series
May 17-21; Carson Park; Eau Claire, Wis.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, MAY 17:
Game 1: Cortland (32-15) vs. Salisbury (Md.) (39-2), 11 a.m.
Game 2: Luther (Iowa) (32-9) vs. Anderson (Ind.) (31-16), 1:30 p.m.
Game 3: Texas-Tyler (44-4) vs. Tufts (Mass.) (42-3), 4 p.m.
Game 4: Central (Iowa) (32-8) vs. Montclair St. (N.J.) (45-3), 6:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, MAY 18:
Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 11 a.m.
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 1:30 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 4 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 6:30 p.m.
SUNDAY, MAY 19:
Game 9: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7, Noon
Game 10: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 8, 2:30 p.m.
Game 11: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 5 p.m.
Game 12: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 7:30 p.m.
MONDAY, MAY 20:
Game 13: Loser Game 11 vs. Winner Game 12, Noon
Game 14: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 13, 2:30 p.m.
TUESDAY, MAY 21:
Game 15: Same teams as Game 14, if necessary, 11 a.m.
Interactive Tournament Bracket (click on games to see links for video/stats)
2013 SUNY Cortland Softball - Team Notes
(entering NCAA Division III World Series; Eau Claire, Wis.)
* Cortland is making its eighth Division III World Series appearance. Five of those have been in Salem, Va. (1998, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2011), along with one in Montclair, N.J. (2009) and one in Willimantic, Conn. (1985). Cortland’s best national finish was fourth (2-2 record) in 2011.
* The Red Dragons are playing in their 19th NCAA Division III tournament overall and seventh straight. Cortland earned an automatic NCAA berth by winning the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) tournament title. Cortland then won the NCAA regional at Ithaca, N.Y., with a 4-1 record to earn a spot at the World Series.
* Cortland enters World Series play with a 32-15 record. The Red Dragons have won at least 30 games each of the last 12 seasons. Cortland was 8-10 at one point this spring, but has since posted a 24-5 record.
* Four of Cortland’s seniors – Lucia Meola, Cassie Kardias, Nicole Gallo and Tara Donnino – have been four-year members of a program that is a combined 155-38-1 (.802) – 40-8 in 2010, 42-5-1 in 2011, 41-10 in 2012 and 32-15 this year).
* Cortland's head coach Julie Lenhart has an overall record of 754-315-2 in 24 years of coaching (634-238-2 in 19 years at Cortland; 120-77 in five years at Wisconsin-Platteville). She ranks sixth all-time among Division III coaches with her 754 wins. Lenhart is one of three coaches at the World Series with at least 700 wins (along with George Wares of Central and Anita Kubicka of Montclair St.).
* Five Red Dragons were named to the All-Northeast Region team. Two of them – senior second baseman Lucia Meola and freshman outfielder Diane Cork – were first-team selections and were eligible for All-America honors. Meola was a third-team All-American as both a third baseman in 2011 and as a second baseman in 2012. Junior designated player/first baseman Alicia Hibbard was a second-team all-region selection this spring, while senior first baseman Nicole Gallo and sophomore shortstop Erin Wolstenholme were third-team choices.
* Lucia Meola and Diane Cork received two of the SUNYAC’s top postseason honors. Meola was named SUNYAC Player of the Year and Cork was chosen as SUNYAC Rookie of the Year. Meola, Cork and Alicia Hibbard were first-team All-SUNYAC honorees. Erin Wolstenholme and junior catcher Briana Barca were named to the all-league second team.
* Junior pitcher Amber Corrigan was named the MVP at the SUNYAC Tournament and the Most Outstanding Player at the NCAA Ithaca Regional. In Cortland’s nine postseason games (four SUNYAC, five NCAA), Corrigan is 8-1 with a 1.09 ERA and has allowed only 36 hits in 64 innings. Corrigan pitched at Div. I Maryland-Eastern Shore in 2011 and at SUNY Orange (a junior college) in 2012 before joining the Red Dragons this season.
* Joining Corrigan on the SUNYAC All-Tournament Team were Diane Cork, Lucia Meola and Erin Wolstenholme. Cortland’s selections on the NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team, in addition to Corrigan, were Wolstenholme, Briana Barca and Cassie Kardias. Kardias batted .611 (11-for-18) with a homer, two doubles, three RBI, two walks, eight runs and two steals in five NCAA tournament games.
* Lucia Meola ranks first at Cortland in career walks (80), second in doubles (45) and runs scored (152), third in games played (191) and hits (223; one behind second place), and fourth in RBI (116). This season, she set a school record with 29 walks, her 15 doubles are tied for sixth-best and her 63 hits ranks ninth.
* Diane Cork enters World Series play with a 13-game hitting streak, the longest by a Red Dragon player this spring. She leads Cortland with nine home runs from her leadoff spot in the lineup and is second in batting average (.371) and fourth in RBI (34).
* Cortland is 3-5 all-time versus its first-round World Series opponent Salisbury. Two of those losses came in previous Series – a 2-1 loss in an elimination game in 2009 and a 1-0 loss in the opening round in 2003. The Red Dragons and the Sea Gulls played twice this season at the Salisbury Invitational, with Salisbury winning 8-2 and 11-0.
* Against its potential second-day opponents, Cortland is 4-0 all-time versus Anderson (first game in 1993, last game in 2003) and 1-1 versus Luther (6-0 win in 2011 World Series; 4-1 loss in 1985 World Series).
* Against other teams in the Series, Cortland is: 6-14 versus Montclair State, with the last meeting a 4-3 Cortland win in the 2011 NCAA Regionals in Cortland; 1-2 versus Tufts, with the last game a 3-1 Tufts win at the 2009 World Series; 2-2 vs. Central, with Cortland winning, 7-5, in the NFCA Leadoff Classic earlier this season; and 0-1 vs. Texas-Tyler, with the loss coming in the 2010 NFCA Leadoff Classic.
