CORTLAND, N.Y. - The Cortland softball team was eliminated from NCAA tournament play with losses to Heidelberg, 8-0 in five innings, and DeSales, 5-2, during the second day of the NCAA Div. III Cortland, N.Y. Regional at Dragon Field.

Cortland, which was playing in its 20th NCAA tournament, finishes the season 36-13. DeSales and Heidelberg will play in the regional championship round Sunday at 10 a.m. - the start time has been moved earlier due to forecasted storms Sunday afternoon in Cortland. If DeSales wins, a final game will follow for the regional title.

Heidelberg 8, Cortland 0 (5 inn.) (Box Score)

Paige Atterholt threw a four-hit shutout and Renee Lovett went 3-for-4 with two RBI to lead Heidelberg. The game was called after five innings due to the eight-run rule. Atterholt walked one and did not strike out anyone as she improved to 17-3 on the year.

Kyleah Brey was 2-for-2 with an RBI, and Abbey McKee and Mikaela Mitsch each finished 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI for the Student Princes (32-8). Diane Cork (Wayland/Wayland-Cohocton) was 2-for-3 with a double for the Red Dragons.

Lovett singled in two runs, with a third scoring on an error, to give Heidelberg a 3-0 lead in the second. Haylee Patel's RBI groundout made it 4-0 in the third, and the guests put up two in the fourth on RBI sinlges by Mitsch and Brey and two more in the fifth on a Marissa Smego RBI fielder's choice and a McKee RBI single. Heidelberg finished with 12 hits.

DeSales 5, Cortland 2 (Box Score)

DJ McCauley threw a complete game for the win and also went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI for DeSales (19-14). The Bulldogs stayed alive earlier in the day with a 6-1 victory over Neumann behind McCauley's three-hitter. Against Cortland, McCauley allowed five hits and four walks, struck out three, and gave up two runs, one earned.

Alexa Beaumont was 3-for-4 with two RBI and Samantha Gibson hit a solo homer - her third home run in two games during the day. Annie Cosentino finished 2-for-2 as the Bulldogs out-hit Cortand, 10-5.

Niki Barbato (East Meadow/Holy Trinity) went 2-for-3 with a walk and Erin Wolstenholme (Oneonta) drew two walks for Cortland. Jamie Lachall (Philadelphia, PA/Sun Valley) started and gave up four runs, three earned, on eight hits in four and two thirds innings.

DeSales took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a McCauley two-out double and Beaumont RBI single, with McCauley just sliding under the tag at home. Cortland tied the game in the third on a throwing error during a pickoff attempt at third that allowed Rosie Phillips (Geneva/Our Lady of Mercy) to score.

In the top of the fifth, Cork singled and Jamie Bucci (Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow) hit into a fielder's choice that resulted in a force at second. Barbato followed with a single, and the runners moved to second and third on a groundout. Wolstenholme walked to load the bases, and pinch hitter Carrie Stoddard (Liverpool) walked to force in a run. The situation mirrored the previous day when Stoddard hit a fifth inning grand slam as a pinch hitter versus DeSales to break a tie.

Cortland, however, left the bases loaded, and DeSales put up three runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 4-2 lead. The inning was aided by two Cortland errors, and McCauley and Beaumont capped the frame with RBI singles. The Bulldogs' final run came on Gibson's solo homer in the sixth, and McCauley retired the final seven batters she faced to seal the win.

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