Golden Griffins Come to Syracuse for Softball Doubleheader
4/14/2004 2:07:09 PM | Softball
GameDay Central
SU 8, Canisius 7
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Orangewomen softball team will be back in action on Thursday, April 15 when it hosts Canisius. The first game of the doubleheader gets underway at 3 p.m. at the SU Softball Stadium.
Syracuse is 15-17 overall and 1-3 in the BIG EAST, while the Golden Griffins are 10-18 overall and 2-2 in the MAAC.
The Orangewomen have had their last three home doubleheaders washed out because of weather. According to weather.com, the official website of The Weather Channel, the forecast on Thursday calls for sunny skies and a high temperature near 50 degrees.
SU SWEPT AT NOTRE DAME IN LAST ACTION
Syracuse dropped to 15-17 overall and 1-3 in the BIG EAST with a pair of five-inning losses at Notre Dame on Saturday, April 10. The Fighting Irish took the first game 11-3 and the nightcap 8-0. It was the first time in school history that SU has lost via the eight-run rule in consecutive games. Senior Rachel Park had two hits in game two, the Orangewomen’s only hits in the game. Sophomore Cassie Morales drove in a run for SU in the opener. Senior Haley Larsen was the losing pitcher in both games. The game-two loss marked marked only the third time all season that the Orangewomen have been shut out. The last was on March 13 in a 2-0, eight-inning loss to Iowa.
I LOVE NEW YORK
Canisius will be the first in-state opponent of the season for the Orangewomen. SU has three doubleheaders scheduled against teams from New York State, including a BIG EAST matchup with St. John’s on the regular-season’s final weekend. In its first four seasons, the Orangewomen have gone 32-8 (.800) versus teams from the Empire State.
THE SYRACUSE VS. CANISIUS SERIES
Syracuse and Canisius will play for the first time since the 2001 season. The series is even at 2-2 after doubleheader splits in both 2000 and 2001. The last time the two teams met was at the SU Softball Stadium on May 1, 2001. The Griffs won the first game, 4-2, but the Orangewomen came back to take a 5-1 victory in the nightcap.
SCOUTING CANISIUS
The Golden Griffins are 10-18 overall and 2-2 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Canisius has lost three straight, including both ends of a doubleheader at Robert Morris on April 9. Caitlin Lever is the Griffins leading hitter at .325. She also leads the team with 26 hits and a .488 slugging percentage. Natalie Osika is Canisius’ only other player over .300 at .306. Beth Enk and Jamie Gerace have provided most of the run production. Enk has two of the team’s three home runs and 12 RBI. Gerace has a home run and a team-best 13 driven in. Three pitchers have made at least 14 appearances. Andrea Bunten leads the pitching staff with a 5-4 record and a 2.58 ERA. She has 85 strikeouts in 65 innings of work. Lindsay Garbacz is 3-8 with a 4.25 ERA, while Jenna Jurich is 2-4 with a 4.32 ERA in 17 appearances. Bunten and Jurich have each thrown one complete-game shutout.
EVERYBODY HAS A DAY
Of the 15 position players that have started at least one game, 13 of them have had at least one game with more than one hit. Tanya Rose and Alexis Switenko are tied for the team lead with 10 multiple-hit games each. Rose has had seven two-hit outings and three games with three hits. Switenko has nine games with two hits and one three-hit effort. Cassie Morales has had the most three-hit games this season with four. Rose is Syracuse’s all-time leader with 44 games with at least two hits. Ten different players have also had at least two RBI in one game, led by Switenko’s seven multi-RBI efforts (6 w/2, 1 w/3). Morales is next with five, including three games with three runs batted in. Switenko has had more multi-RBI games than anyone in Orangewomen history. She has driven in at least two runs in 15 of her 74 career games.
