SU Wins Game One, 5-4
4/1/2004 5:17:29 PM | Softball
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Sophomore Cassie Morales hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to give SU a 5-4 victory against Boston College in the Orangewomen's BIG EAST opener on Friday, April 2. The victory was SU's 100th win in the history of the program.
Access to home games for Orangewomen fans outside the Syracuse area will be even better than ever. Starting with Friday's games, all of SU's home contests will feature live in-game statistics and a live internet audio broadcast. Dan D'Uva will call the action, while Todd Robbins will provide the analysis.
FIRNBACH SEEKING 100TH VICTORY
Syracuse head coach Mary Jo Firnbach has guided the Orangewomen from its first competition on Feb. 18, 2000. Syracuse’s next victory will be the 100th in the history of the program and the 100th of Firnbach’s coaching career. In her four-plus seasons, Firnbach has recorded a 99-111-1 record.
SYRACUSE ON FIVE-GAME ROLL
The Orangewomen have won a season-best five straight games, going 5-0 at the Mizuno Bash at the Beach hosted by Delaware State. SU defeated Stony Brook, Pennsylvania, Delaware State, Delaware and Providence to earn the tournament championship. Tanya Rose was named the tourney’s MVP, while Courtney Mosch took home Most Valuable Pitcher honors. In addition, Alexis Switenko, Rachel Park and Cassie Morales were named to the all-tournament team. As a team, SU hit .408 with five players hitting .500 or better and another five players at .300 or better. SU scored 40 runs in the five game (8.0/game). Entering the tournament, the Orangewomen had scored 54 runs in 23 games (2.3/game). The current winning streak is the fifth five-game run in school history and first since the squad won a school-record six consecutive games from March 30-April 10 in 2002. Last season, the Orangewomen never won more than two consecutive games.
SU AND BIG EAST OPENERS
Syracuse is 2-1 all-time in BIG EAST openers. SU has won two straight, defeating Connecticut, 7-0, in 2002 and Virginia Tech, 4-1, last season. This is the first year that Syracuse will play its first BIG EAST games at home. The Orangewomen lost their first-ever conference game, 5-4, on April 2, 2001 at Virginia Tech.
THE SYRACUSE VS. BOSTON COLLEGE SERIES
The Orangewomen own a 5-3 all-time advantage in the series with the Eagles. BC won both meetings last season in Chestnut Hill, sweeping a twin bill from Syracuse, 8-0 in five innings and 1-0. The last time Boston College visited Syracuse (April 20, 2002) the Orangewomen took both ends of a doubleheader. SU won the first game, 5-1, and earned a hard-fought 6-5 win in 14 innings in the nightcap. Still the longest game in school history, the contest ended on SU’s first-ever walk-off home run, a solo shot by Cheryl Julicher. Syracuse’s five wins against the Eagles is tied for the second-most among the Orangewomen’s conference opponents. SU has defeated Rutgers six times and Providence five times.
EXPECT A CLOSE ONE
Sixteen of the Orangewomen’s 28 games this season have been decided by two runs or less, including 10 one-run affairs. SU is 7-9 this season in games decided by two or fewer runs, including a 4-6 mark in one-run games. SU’s last five games at the War on the Shore Tournament were uncharacteristically lopsided. SU outscored its five opponents, 40-10 with an average margin of victory of six runs. The closest game of the tournament was a 3-1 victory against the host Hornets. The Orangewomen have played five extra-inning games this season, going 2-3. All three extra-inning defeats came using the international tiebreaker rule (last batter from the previous inning is placed on second to start the next inning). SU will not have to play with that rule for the remainder of the season.
ORANGEWOMEN DIG THE LONG BALL
Syracuse has hit 17 home runs in the first 28 games. The Orangewomen are fourth in the BIG EAST in most homers and rank third in the conference in home runs per game at 0.61 per contest. Providence leads the league, hitting 0.87 long balls per contest (20 HR/23 G). Notre Dame is second at 0.75 homers a game (24 HR/32 G). The Orangewomen have hit at least one home run in six straight games, belting nine long balls in that stretch. Syracuse is already more than halfway to the school home run record of 32 set last season. The Orangewomen’s total of 17 so far this season is the third-most in school history. Five different players have hit home runs for Syracuse this season led by Tanya Rose’s six. Alexis Switenko is second with five, while Cassie Morales has gone yard three times. Courtney Mosch has two homers and Dani Delgado has one.
ROSE’S BAT BLOOMING IN LAST 12 GAMES
Junior outfielder Tanya Rose is in the midst of a school-record 12-game hitting streak. The previous mark was 11 held by current senior Rachel Park. In the last 12 games, Rose has hit .535 (23-for-43) with 18 runs scored, five home runs, six doubles and seven batted in. She owns a 1.023 slugging percentage and a .574 on-base percentage during that stretch. Rose ranks first on the SU all-time lists for runs scored (78), home runs (16) and total bases (210). She is only the second SU player to record at least 200 total bases. Rose is also the Orangewomen’s career leader in batting average (.352), slugging percentage (.569), on-base percentage (.409), doubles (26), runs batted in (56) and stolen bases (27).
CERTAINLY NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP
Sophomore shortstop Alexis Switenko has started 70 consecutive games for the Orangewomen, batting fourth in every game of her career for SU. The sophomore has certainly “cleaned up,” driving in 47 runs in her brief career, the second-most in the history of the program. She trails all-time leader Tanya Rose (56) by nine and is only three shy of becoming the second Orangewoman to crack the 50-RBI plateau. After leading the team with nine home runs and 24 runs batted in en route to BIG EAST All-Rookie honors last season, Switenko is even better as a sophomore. In 28 games this season, Switenko is hitting .337, an improvement of 101 percentage points from her season average of .236 last season. She has 30 hits already this season, matching her 2003 total. Switenko has 23 runs batted in so far in 2004, just one RBI shy of matching her season total from a year ago. She is only five runs batted in shy of breaking the school single-season record.
MOSCH AMONG TOP ROOKIE HURLERS IN THE BIG EAST
Freshman pitcher/designated player Courtney Mosch has been one of the top rookie pitchers in the BIG EAST so far in 2004. Mosch leads conference freshman in wins (9), innings pitched (111.2), strikeouts (73), games started (15), shutouts (3) and complete games (11). She leads SU in those categories as well as opponent batting average (.226) and earned run average (2.07). Her nine victories are already the second-most ever by a Syracuse freshman. Tara DiMaggio set both the school overall and rookie marks with 14 wins in the Orangewomen’s inaugural season in 2000. Mosch was named the Most Valuable Pitcher at the Mizuno War at the Shore Tournament after going 4-0 with a 0.65 ERA (2 ER) and 16 strikeouts in 21 and two-thirds innings. She did not allow a run in her final 12 innings of the weekend, including a 4-0 complete-game shutout of Providence in the championship game. She gave up just 11 hits in her four appearances, holding opponents to a .143 batting average. Mosch also had a huge weekend at the plate in Delaware, hitting hit .500 (7-for-14) with five runs scored, seven RBI and the first two home runs of her career. Her season hitting numbers include a .293 batting average, three doubles, and eight runs batted in.
