FREDONIA, N.Y. -- Fredonia used the long ball to build an early lead, then hung on to deal Cortland its first SUNYAC loss of the season, 7-5, in the second game of Thursday's softball doubleheader. The Blue Devils (6-10 overall, 2-2 SUNYAC) dropped the first game, 18-6.

A solo homer by freshman Kelly Losito (Horseheads, N.Y./Horseheads). her second in two days, and a two-run blast by sophomore Katelyn Dennis (Webster, N.Y./Webster Shroeder), her first of the season, staked freshman right-hander Emily Shellenberger (Philadephia, Pa./Little Flower Catholic) to a 3-0 lead in the first inning of Game 2. Losito's homer came after senior Alyssa Morgan (Homer, N.Y./Homer) singled, her first of three hits in the game.

The Blue Devils scored two runs in the second inning on a lead-off single to center by junior Sarah Cuillo (Blasdell, N.Y./Frontier) and two-out RBI singles by Losito and Morgan. They added two insurance runs in the sixth after the Red Dragons (18-4 overall, 7-1 SUNYAC) had cut the Fredonia led to 5-4.

The two-run sixth began with a pinch-hit single by junior Khee Nance (Dunkirk, N.Y./Dunkirk). Losito bunted her to second ahead of another single by Morgan and a walk to senior Madeline Medina (Hamburg, N.Y./Hamburg) to load the bases. Nance scored on a wild pitch and senior Kim Lotocki (Hamburg, N.Y./Frontier) lined an RBI single to center to up Fredonia's lead to 7-4.

Shellenberger left with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth. Senior right-hander Aldyn Carlson (Dunkirk, N.Y./Dunkirk) induced an inning-ending double play, then allowed just one more run over the final two innings to pick up her third save of the year. Shellenberger, who took the loss in Game 1, improved to 2-4.

As they did in Game 2, the Blue Devil hitters came out strong in the opener and built a 6-3 lead after two innings. They were unable to sustain the offense while the Red Dragons went on a roll. The defending SUNYAC champs -- and pre-season favorite to repeat on top -- scored 14 runs in the final three innings.

Medina accounted for three of Fredonia's runs with an RBI double in the first inning and a two-run single in the second. Sophomore Nikki Lent (Yaphank, N.Y./Longwood) had a two-run double and freshman Cassidy Herman (Maybrook, N.Y./Valley) had two singles. Herman also had two singles in Game 2.

The Blue Devils left immediately after the game for New Paltz, where they will meet the Hawks in a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. Friday. Then it's on to Oneonta for a doubleheader Saturday starting at noon.