#4 Cortland State 5, #5 UW-Whitewater 4

Line Drive by Weidman Gives Cortland the Final Lead

May 16, 2008

 

SALEM, Va. --- With two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh inning, Cortland's Brooke Weidman gave the Red Dragons a 5-4 edge over UW-Whitewater with a line drive down the first baseline to allow Bethany Williamson to score the game-winning run. 

 

"I don’t think I’ve ever had that big of a game winning hit," said Weidman.  "When it went through I almost wanted to cry. It was pretty exciting!"

 

The Red Dragons found their rhythm in the bottom of the seventh inning.  Amanda Barnett reached first base on a single and then advanced to second after Annemarie Nelson was walked.   Emily Ringen drilled a double to left field which warranted a run to make the score 4-3 in UW-Whitewater's favor.  Later, Shara Evanter singled to right field and allowed for another Red Dragon base runner to score the tying run.  Weidman followed with her late inning heroics to secure the Cortland State victory.

 

In the circle, Cortland's Katie Finch threw a complete game, allowing seven hits and four runs scored.  For UW-Whitewater, Jessica Stang pitched 6.2 innings and allowed nine hits and five runs.  Each hurler fanned five batters.

 

Cortland scored the first run of the game in the first inning off of a wild pitch and came back again in the third frame with another score off an Emily Ringen line drive single up the middle.

 

Cortland held UW-Whitewater scoreless until the top of the fifth inning when the Warhawks' Meghann Brennfleck advanced to third on a fielding error and then scored on a throwing miscue.  The Warhawks having hit 61 homers in the regular season, picked up another in the sixth inning when Lauren Cruz hit a two-run shot to right field to give the Warhawks 3-2 lead.

 

"I’m looking forward to tomorrow; I’m not worried at all. They bounce back quickly," said Head UW-Whitewater Coach, Brenda Volk.

 

The Red Dragons are now 39-11 on the season and will return to play in Game 7 against #1 Louisiana College at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.  The Warhawks, now 35-10, will face #8 Rhode Island College in Game 5 at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday.

 

 

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