SU to Face Binghamton in Mid-Week Doubleheader
4/6/2004 2:15:12 PM | Softball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Syracuse softball team will return to action on Wednesday, April 7 when it hosts Binghamton. Game one of the doubleheader is slated for 4 p.m. The Orangewomen are 15-15 overall and 1-1 in the BIG EAST, while the Bearcats are 9-9-1 overall and 2-0 in the America East.
SU defeated Boston College, 5-4, in the first game of the doubleheader on the strength of a Cassie Morales two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning. Morales had four hits in the twin bill. The Eagles were victorious in the second game, 5-3. Melissa Kelly had two hits and drove in two runs.
Binghamton is coming off a doubleheader sweep of Hartford last Saturday. Pitcher Michelle Weeks became the first Bearcat pitcher in four years to throw a no-hitter, limiting the Hawks to three walks in an 11-0 win.
GAME-TWO LOSS ENDS SCHOOL-RECORD WINNING STREAK
The Orangewomen’s victory against Boston College was their sixth consecutive win, tying the school record set from March 30-April 20, 2002. SU was unable to set a new mark, however, losing game two, 5-3. The winning streak was the fifth run of at least five straight wins in school history and first since the last six-game stretch. Last season, the Orangewomen never won more than two consecutive games.
ORANGEWOMEN ARE NO APRIL FOOLS
SU was happy to see the calendar change to April. The Orangewomen are 43-39-1 all-time in the first full month of spring, its only month above the .500 mark. The Orangewomen are 12-20 in Feburary, 36-44 in March and 9-9 in May.
Syracuse leads the all-time series with the Bearcats, 5-1. The two teams have played at least once every season since the Orangewomen began competing in 2000. SU has won three sraight against Binghamton, including an 8-0 win at the UCF Spring Fling last season. SU swept a doubleheader, 5-0 and 5-2, in the Bearcats last visit to the SU Softball Stadium. Binghamton’s only win in the series was a 1-0, nine-inning decision in Vestal on April 11, 2001.
CATCHING TANDEM STARTING TO HIT
The duo of juniors Katie Kaempfer and Jaime Grillo have provided stellar defense all season, posting a combined .980 fielding percentage behind the plate (3 errors in 148 chances). The pair has also combined to throw out 10 would-be base stealers this season. Recently however, the two have begun to swing potent bats. After beginning the season hitting a combined 2-for-46 (.043) with one run scored and one RBI, Grillo and Kaempfer have hit .381 (8-for-21) with three runs and three RBI in the last seven games. Grillo had two hits in the second game against BC to raise her average to .500 (4-for-8) in that stretch. Kaempfer is hitting .308 (4-for-13) with two runs scored and three driven in during the last seven outings. She started the second game against Boston College as the designated player.
PLATOONING AT THE HOT CORNER
Senior Nikki Lincoln and freshman Erin Gray have split the third-base duties right down the middle this season. The two have been alternating starts game-by-game. Lincoln has started 16 times and is hitting .225 (10-for-45) with two doubles and five RBI. She is third on the team with 56 defensive assists. Gray has started 14 times, htting .175 (7-for-40), including two hits in her start against Boston College, with four runs scored and one driven in. Lincoln ranks seventh all-time at SU in games played with 115. She is also seventh in games started at 101. Lincoln ranks among the program’s all-time top 10 in runs scored (t-9th, 25), doubles (9th, 9), runs batted in (9th, 30) and walks (6th, 26).
KELLY HAS BEST GAME OF SEASON AGAINST BC
Junior first baseman Melissa Kelly, a junior college transfer, had the best game of her young SU career, with two hits, including her first double, and two RBI in the second game against Boston College. It was her first multi-hit and multi-RBI game of the season. Kelly entered the game with four hits and two RBI. Despite her struggles at the plate, Kelly has been sterling defensively, posting a .985 fielding percentage and saving the SU infield from several throwing errors with her ability to scoop at first base.
