Cortland's last-chance rally against Salisbury was successful for the second time in this tournament. Photo by Larry Radloff, d3photography.com

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – Cortland State scored five times in the bottom of the seventh inning to walk off with a 7-6 win against Salisbury and remain alive at the 2013 Division III Softball Championships.

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The Red Dragons gave up four runs in the top of the sixth inning as the Sea Gulls sent 10 to the plate and appeared to be dead in the water, going meekly in the bottom of the sixth. But Cortland (35-16) got leadoff batter Alicia Hibbard on with a walk, Cassie Kardias bounced a single through the middle and Nicole Gallo doubled to left-center to bring the first run home.

Erin Wolstenholme, who hadn’t hit the ball out of the infield all day, was hit by a pitch on an 0-2 count to load the bases. But even then, the Sea Gulls (42-4) had a chance to get out of it as Courtney Kadish hit a potential double-play grounder to short. The ball went through shortstop Hannah Mills’ legs, however, scoring Kardias and Gallo to cut the lead to 6-5. Briana Barca ended the game with a double to left.

"We were three outs away from going into the championship games but we just ran out of gas," said Salisbury coach Margie Knight. "Going through the losers’ bracket is tough – it’s tough emotionally and tough mentally and I think that’s where the breakdown was. It wasn’t our physical breakdown even though that’s what showed up. I think it was just mentally."

The rally made a winner of junior reliever Tiffany Sampere (4-1), who came on to pitch a scoreless seventh inning after the Sea Gulls’ sixth-inning rally. 

The Sea Gulls batted around in the sixth, knocking out four hits and drawing three walks, including a leadoff double by Carly Read. Pinch-runner Meredith Blades came around to score for her on a Harley Hill single, and a Texas Leaguer bloop hit by Sarah Alpaugh brought in Hill and chased Cortland State starter Amber Corrigan after 5-1/3 innings.

Reliever Sarah Salamone struggled, walking three batters to force in two more runs and staking the Sea Gulls to a 6-2 lead.

It was a tough seventh inning for Salisbury sophomore Rachel Johnson, who was tagged for five runs, four earned. Photo by Larry Radloff, d3photography.com

The Red Dragons left eight runners on base in the first four innings, including twice leaving the bases loaded with the heart of the lineup at the plate.

Cortland State got five hits in the first two innings but could only manage one run out of them. The Red Dragons had three consecutive singles to load the bases with one out in the first but Salisbury’s Katie Larson got the next two batters on soft liners to Reed at second base to end the threat.

In the second, Kadish led off with a bloop single over the first baseman’s head and pinch-runner Jennifer Ranieri came around to score on a single by Lucia Meola. Diane Cork was gunned at the plate after trying to score all the way from first. The run tied the game at 1-1.

Salisbury scratched out another run in the top of the third after Cortland surrendered three consecutive two-out walks and Katie Sebbane was hit by a pitch to drive in Michelle Gravdahl. Amber Corrigan got out of the inning with no further damage after a soft fly ball to right field. Cortland answered in the bottom of the inning, reaching reliever Rachel Johnson for a pair of singles and an infield grounder to score Alicia Hibbard.

Cortland left the bases loaded in the fourth.

Johnson took the loss with five earned runs in four innings of relief, falling to 29-3. Hill went 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI for the Sea Gulls, while Alpaugh added two runs on two hits in four at-bats.

Barca's game-winning hit was her third hit of the game in four at-bats. Kardias was 3-for-4 as well for the Red Dragons. Meola, Hibbard and Kadish had two hits apiece. Corrigan gave up five runs, all earned, in her 5-1/3 innings for Cortland.

"I’ll take a 40-win season any time and finishing at the national championship is a real treat and real honor," said Knight. "To finish with the seven seniors that I’ve had, I couldn’t be in a better place than to work with those fine women."