Ewing, NJ ... The College of New Jersey softball team suffered a pair of setbacks on Friday afternoon as they dropped two games to SUNY Cortland 3-1 and 7-3 at Dr. June Walker Field.

The Lions (10-7) battled hard, but the Red Dragons came through with some clutch hitting and solid pitching to raise their record to 9-3.
 
Game 1:  SUNY Cortland 3  TCNJ 1
 
TCNJ was limited to four hits in the opener as Alex Flint raised her season record to 5-2 on the mound. Sam Van Dorn came into for the final two and two-thirds innings to register her second save.
 
Cortland got on board in the first when Kaileigh Churchill delivered an RBI-single up the middle to plate Jaime Bucci. Lions' catcher Jaime Purcell (Nutley, NJ/Mt. Saint Dominic Academy) received the throw from center and alertly fired to second to cut down Churchill at second base.
 
The Lions drew even in the bottom of the frame. Leadoff hitter Steph Vuono (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern) drew a walk before Deanna Utter (Byram, NJ/Lenape Valley) put down a well-placed bunt and legged out a single. With runners on first and second, freshman Jess Santelli (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt and rookie Gaby Bennett (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) made it count with an RBI-single to left.
 
The Red Dragons tacked on a run in the third on a two-out single by Daniel Cork. They added an insurance run in the seventh on another single by Cork to give Van Dorn a two-run cushion.
 
Van Dorn allowed a base hit in the seventh to Kristen Fitzsimmons (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial), but got the final two outs to ensure the eighth win of the season for Cortland.
 
Senior Katie Hourihan (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) was touched for two runs in five innings and sophomore Sam Platt (Cedar Grove, NJ/Mount Saint Dominic Academy) surrendered one unearned run in two innings of relief.
 
Game 2: SUNY Cortland 7  TCNJ 3
 
Cortland put up a run in the second and then took a 2-0 lead when Kaleigh Churchill singled through the middle.
 
The Lions rallied with three runs in the fourth. Madison Levine (Oakland, NJ/Indian Hills) stroked a two-run double down the left-field line to tie the game at 2-2. Sophomore Jess Stevenson (Belmar, NJ/Red Bank Regional) hit a hard ground ball to short and Levine went on contact and beat the throw for the go-ahead run.
 
In the sixth, Red Dragon shortstop Erin Wolstenholmen came to the plate with runners on first and third. She delivered a clutch shot to the gap that chased both runners, allowing Cortland to regain the lead, 4-3.
 
Churchill and Niki Barbato both delivered RBI singles in the seventh to highlight a three-run inning and seal the sweep.
 
Vuono and Fitzsimmons each had two hits for the Lions in the second game.
 
TCNJ returns to action tomorrow (Saturday) when they host Ithaca College in a twin-bill that begins that 12:00 p.m.