Maddy DeVore connects on an inside pitch (photo by Cecil Ramsey).
A homer leading off the afternoon was the best start Madison DeVore and her Fredonia State teammates could have imagined Sunday at Cortland. In addition to guaranteeing a split of the doubleheader, the Blue Devils stayed in the hunt for a SUNYAC playoff berth heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
DeVore launched the third pitch of the game for her third homer of the season, and added an RBI double an inning later following a two-run double by Kim Dorane, in the Blue Devils' 10-6 win. Brooke Caldwell added a two-run single in the third inning and a run-scoring single in the sixth as part of a four-RBI game. She and DeVore each had three hits, while Avery Hill and Kirsten Lajewski had two each. One of Hill's hits was a two-run double in the sixth.
Kendall Phillips pitched four scoreless innings before Cortland got to her for three runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth. She pitched up the win, her sixth straight to improve to 9-8, with scoreless relief help from freshmen Phoenix Thomas and Cayzlee Johnson. Thomas pitched out of further trouble in the sixth and Johnson followed suit in the seventh to close the book on only the eighth win ever over Cortland.
"They played from the first inning on," Blue Devil Head Coach Tony Ciccarello said. "They kept the intensity for the whole game and overcame adversity when Cortland battled back with three (runs) late. We responded with four."
Cortland earned a split with an 14-0 win in the second game of the SUNYAC doubleheader. The Red Dragons (19-12, 10-4) broke out offensively with 16 hits against a trio of Blue Devil pitchers. Fredonia State was limited to four hits, all singles, including DeVore's fourth hit of the doubleheader.
With the split, the Blue Devils ended the day at 14-20 overall and in 8-6 in the SUNYAC, tied with Buffalo State and Oswego for fourth place; the top six teams make the playoffs.
Those three teams are one game ahead of Plattsburgh, which heads to western New York next weekend, first stopping at Blue Devil Field for a Friday doubleheader, then off to Buffalo State next Saturday. Both western New York teams will also face Potsdam on alternating days. But before returning to conference competition, the Blue Devils will play host to Nazareth for a pair of non-conference games Wednesday, which is also the annual Strikeout Cancer Day by Fredonia State softball. The doubleheader is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start.
