CORTLAND, N.Y.– Seniors Ashley Fillmore, Sami Brown and Kayleigh Blersch all had multi-hit games, but the SUNY Geneseo softball team fell in the SUNYAC championship game to Cortland, 9-2. The Red Dragons defeated the Knights two consecutive times to win the double-elimination tournament.

Cortland's 5-4 win yesterday over the Knights made today's game a winner-take-all affair. Counting regular-season, the two teams split their four contests heading into today's game. The Red Dragons (35-11), the tournament's top seed, came into the game ranked second in the NCAA Northeast Region, while the Knights (28-12) were the tournament's No. 2 seed and No. 3 in the Northeast.

The Red Dragons pushed across four runs in the bottom of the second, three on a home run. Geneseo immediately answered in the top of the third. Fillmore got with a base hit and Brown followed with a home run, her first of the season, to cut the margin to 4-2.

Cortland answered with two runs in both the third and fourth innings to build the margin to 8-2. The Knights had base runners in each of the last four innings, but couldn't pull any closer. The Red Dragons added a single tally in the sixth inning to make the final margin 9-2.

Brown went three-for-four, with a double in addition to her home run. She went 10-for-17 with six runs in the SUNYAC Tournament, pushing her team-leading batting average to .387, with a team-best 48 hits and 32 runs.  Her strong finish at the plate raised her career average to .377, which ties her for the seventh-highest career batting average in Geneseo history. She was named to the All-Tournament Team, along with Fillmore and junior Cat Krok.

Senior Corrin Spallone (16-7) took the loss, allowing four runs on five hits in two innings pitched. Junior Mikayla Moore came on in the third inning and pitched the final four frames, allowing five runs on seven hits.

Geneseo finishes its regular season with a 28-12 mark, the most wins since the 2004 team won the same number and best winning percentage (.700) since the 2003 team went 29-7. The Knights advanced the farthest in the tournament since the 2002 team won the program's sole SUNYAC championship. The team's 18-game winning streak during the regular season was the second-longest in the school's softball history.

Cortland, as winner of the SUNYAC, receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, and the Knights are in the mix for an at-large bid. The tournament field will be announced on Monday, May 4 at 10 a.m.