Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – Despite dropping a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) doubleheader to SUNY Cortland on Saturday at Mary Gray Deane Field in its final games of the regular season, the State University of New York at New Paltz softball team punched its ticket into the SUNYAC Tournament as the No. 5 seed. New Paltz fell, 6-3, in game one before dropping a 3-0 decision in game two.
 
New Paltz, which falls to 18-17 overall (9-9 SUNYAC), will take on second-seeded SUNY Plattsburgh in its first SUNYAC Tournament game on Thursday, May 5, at 11 a.m. The 2016 SUNYAC Tournament will occur from Thursday-Saturday, May 5-7, at top-seeded Cortland. Cortland rises to 31-9 overall (17-1 SUNYAC) with the wins and will face sixth-seeded Buffalo State in its first game of the SUNYAC Tournament on May 5 at 9 a.m.
 
Game 1: Cortland 6, New Paltz 3
 
Cortland scored four runs in the first inning, which was all the offense it ultimately needed to pull out the victory.
 
The Red Dragons scored their first run on a fielder's choice in the first, while junior first baseman Mikayla Shade made it a 2-0 game with an RBI double to right field. Sophomore second baseman Andrea Schoonmaker drove in a run during Cortland's next at-bat with an RBI single up the middle, while Shade came around to score on a fielder's choice sacrifice bunt to complete the inning's scoring.
 
New Paltz countered in the bottom of the first, as senior center fielder Fallon Spriggs (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston) plated sophomore left fielder Julia Perhacs (Robbinsville, N.J./Robbinsville) with an RBI single up the middle. Freshman shortstop Taylor LaFrance (New Windsor, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) scored on a double-steal attempt in the third, while sophomore third baseman Alexa Mastando (Miller Place, N.Y./Rocky Point) made it a one-run game with a sacrifice bunt in the fourth, scoring sophomore right fielder Danielle Bruno (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East). The Red Dragons added insurance in the fifth and sixth innings, scoring one run in each frame.
 
Senior catcher Jordan Fiore (Mount Sinai, N.Y./Mount Sinai) and junior designated player Nicole DeCosta (Stormville, N.Y./John Jay-East Fishkill) each had multiple hits for the Hawks, while Schoonmaker and sophomore designated player Skyler Hoyt each finished with two base knocks for the Red Dragons.
 
Senior pitcher Katie Rutcofsky (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy) sustained the loss, giving up six runs off seven hits while striking out five. Junior pitcher Jamie Lachall earned the win in five innings of work for Cortland, while freshman pitcher Sam Van Dorn kept the Hawks scoreless in two innings of relief and was credited with the save.
 
Game 2: Cortland 3, New Paltz 0
 
After four scoreless innings, Cortland scored a run in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to complete the doubleheader sweep.
 
Junior third baseman Kaleigh Churchill pushed across the first run of game two in the fifth, driving in junior right fielder Niki Barbato with a single to left field. Senior shortstop Erin Wolstenholme turned the first pitch she saw over the left-field fence in the sixth inning, while senior left fielder Diane Cork added another solo home run to the Red Dragons' cause in the seventh to spell out the final score.
 
Three Hawks had a hit in game two, while Churchill, Schoonmaker and Wolstenholme all had multiple hits for Cortland.
 
Junior pitcher Taylor Corwin (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) shouldered the loss for New Paltz, permitting three runs off eight hits while striking out two in six innings of work, while junior pitcher Alexandrea Flint threw a three-hit shutout for Cortland.