Cortland defeats Buffalo State 3-1.

By COURTNEY LEWIS
Staff Writer

May 05, 2008 04:00 am

— PLATTSBURGH -- Amanda Barnett had come up empty in her first 10 at-bats of the SUNYAC Tournament.
In the 11th, she came up big.
Barnett belted a two-run homer in the third inning to lift Cortland to a 3-1 victory over Buffalo State in Sunday's championship game at the Cardinals Softball Complex.
"I thought it was actually going to be a pop-up to left; I wasn't even feeling it," Barnett said. "I needed something all season, and I wasn't hitting anything in the tournament. So I finally came in clutch, and it worked out."
The second-seeded Red Dragons (34-11) claimed their second straight title and their fourth in six years. They also earned the SUNYAC's automatic NCAA bid. The complete field for the NCAA Division III playoffs will be announced today.
Katie Finch struck out nine, walked three and allowed four hits to earn the win. The sophomore also picked up the tournament's MVP award. She went 4-1, allowing eight runs and just 15 hits, and pitched two shutouts. In Cortland's five games, Finch threw all but 113 innings.
"She's just amazing," Barnett said. "Lights-out pitcher, able to adjust and deals with pressure very well. And she has the ability to throw strikes when she needs to.
"Everyone has so much faith in her, and I think that's what helps the team. We believe we can win. And getting down early in games, we always have the ability to come back and help her out."
In the second inning, Buffalo State's Karen Oste ripped a grounder past a diving Bethany Williamson at shortstop, and Christina Tschari scored for a 1-0 lead.
Cortland pulled ahead in quick sequence in the third. Donnalyn Cross put down a bunt, and an error on the play at first allowed Brooke Weidman to score. The next batter, Barnett, sent the ball sailing over the left-field fence.
Barnett, a senior catcher, hit .083 for the tournament. She said she decided to be more aggressive at the plate, realizing Buffalo State pitcher Aimee Fisher was throwing strikes early in the count.
The home run was Barnett's first of the season.
Buffalo State stranded two in the fourth and left one on in the fifth. In the top of the seventh, the first two batters grounded out, and then Finch struck out Jolene Banach to clinch the championship.
Williamson and Annemarie Nelson had Cortland's other two hits Sunday.
Tschari and Jordan Banach singled for No. 3 seed Buffalo State (28-15). Fisher tossed three strikeouts and three walks and gave up three hits.
Cortland repeated as SUNYAC Tournament champion for the first time in program history and became the first team in the conference to do it since Brockport in 1993 and 1994.
The Red Dragons got thumped by Brockport, 6-0, on Saturday morning but then won their next three games.
"We just had beaten all these teams before, and we knew we had the ability to do it," Barnett said. "We absolutely did not want to go home. We had business to take care of. We wanted this to be our tournament."
Cortland 3, Buffalo State 1
Buffalo State 010 000 0 -- 1 4 1
Cortland 003 000 X -- 3 3 1
Fisher and Oste. Finch and Barnett. WP- Finch. LP- Fisher. HR- Barnett (C).
All-Tournament Team
Jordan Banach, Buffalo State
Jolene Banach, Buffalo State
Courtney Keleher, Buffalo State
Christina Tschari, Buffalo State
Andrea Stupp, Plattsburgh State
Dale Cornelius, New Paltz
Melissa Boyle, Brockport
Stephanie Geer, Brockport
Shara Evanter, Cortland
Jackie Begnoche, Cortland
MVP- Katie Finch, Cortland