Three Seniors to Play Final Home Softball Games
5/2/2004 9:17:11 AM | Softball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Orangewomen softball team will play its final home games of the season when it hosts Virginia Tech in a key BIG EAST doubleheader on Sunday, May 2 at noon. SU is 22-26 overall and 6-8 in the BIG EAST, while the Hokies are 34-21 and occupy the fourth and final conference tournament spot with a 9-9 league record.
SU KEEPS TOURNEY HOPES ALIVE WITH SWEEP OF PITTSBURGH
The Orangewomen earned their first BIG EAST sweep of the season, defeating Pittsuburgh, 8-7 and 6-5 in nine innings. Junior Tiffany Robinson propelled SU to its game-two victory with a two-out, two-run home run on a 3-2 pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was her first home run of the season and capped SU’s third four-run comeback of the season. The Orangewomen trailed 4-0 after the top of the fourth and 5-4 after the top of the ninth. SU also overcame a 3-1 deficit in the opener with a sixth-run fourth inning. Cassie Morales delivered the big blow with a three-run double. Tanya Rose belted her seventh home run of the season in the opener. Katie Kaempfer reached base four times in the second game, including three hits and a walk. She started the game-winning rally with a leadoff walk. Courtney Mosch was the winning pitcher in both games, improving her record to 16-13. Mosch threw a complete game in the opener, allowing three earned runs. She tossed one inning of scoreless relief in the nightcap for the victory. Haley Larsen was strong in game two, throwing eight-plus innings in the no decision. The Orangewomen stayed alive for a BIG EAST Tournament berth with the two victories, improving their conference record to 6-8. The top four teams in the league make the postseason, which will be held at the SU Softball Stadium. Virginia Tech currently occupies fourth place with a 9-9 league record. Today’s games are the Hokies’ final league games of the season, while SU still has six remaining (vs. Virginia Tech, at St. John’s (5/8), at Seton Hall (5/9).
THREE SENIORS MAKING FINAL HOME REGULAR SEASON APPEARANCE
Today’s games will be the final regular-season appearance at the SU Softball Stadium for three Orangewomen - seniors Haley Larsen, Nikki Lincoln and Rachel Park.
Larsen is in her second season with the Orangewomen after transferring from Utah Valley State J.C. This season she has recorded six victories and thrown a career-high 147 innings. Larsen forever etched her name into the SU record books last season, becoming the first SU pitcher to defeat a ranked opponent. She recorded a complete-game 4-2 win against 24th-ranked Massachusetts. Haley is a two-time member of the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll and was a BIG EAST Academic All-Star last season.
Lincoln has been with the program for the past four seasons. She ranks in the Orangewomen’s all-time top 10 in games played (125) and games started (105). She is also among SU’s career leaders in runs scored, runs batted in and walks. This season Nikki has played in 30 games, starting 20 times. She has been named to the SU Athletic Director’s Honor Roll in each of her semesters at Syracuse and is a three-time BIG EAST Academic All-Star.
Park is the last remaining player from the Orangewomen’s first team in 2000 (sat out 2001 due to injury). Her name is all over the Orangewomen record book. She ranks in SU’s all-time top five in most categories, including games played, games started, hits, batting average, runs, walks, doubles, home runs and runs batted in. She is one of only three Orangewomen ever to accumulate more than 200 total bases, and is the only SU player with two career four-hit games. Rachel is a four-time BIG EAST Academic All-Star, a nine-time member of the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll and was a second-team CoSIDA Academic All-District I pick lat year. She has already received her bachelor’s degree and is pursuing a master’s degree.
MORALES AND SWITENKO BECOME SU’S RBI LEADERS
Sophomore Cassie Morales drove in four runs in the first game against Pittsburgh to raise her season total to 32 RBI. Morales’s RBI total is the second-best in school history. The top name on that list is classmate Alexis Switenko, who has driven in a school-record 35 runs this season. Morales and Switenko are the only two players in SU’s five campaigns to drive in 30-or-more runs in a season. The dynamic duo has also set several other school records this season. Morales has 15 doubles, topping the old mark of 13 set by Katie Kaempfer in 2002. Switenko has nine home runs, tying her own record from last season. The sophomore clean-up hitter also has 90 total bases, the best season total ever at SU. If she can maintain her current .625 slugging percentage, Switenko will also own that mark (.579, Jennifer Orpitelli, 2003). Switenko leads the team in hitting with a .340 batting average, while Morales is third at .318.
THE SYRACUSE-VIRGINIA TECH SERIES
The Orangewomen own a 4-2 advantage all-time versus the Hokies. The two teams split a doubleheader last season in Blacksburg. SU won the first game, 4-1, but Tech came back with a 9-1, six-inning victory in the nightcap. The Orangewomen swept a doubleheader in the Hokies only other trip to Syracuse back in 2002. SU shut out the Hokies, 5-0 and 3-0, in that doubleheader.
SCOUTING THE HOKIES
Virginia Tech lost both ends of a doubleheader at Notre Dame on Friday, 5-0 and 9-1 in five innings. The Hokies are 34-21 overall and 9-9 in the BIG EAST. Kelly Brown is one of four Hokie regulars hitting above .300 with a .337 average. Megan Evans has put up stellar power numbers with a .325 average, nine doubles, 14 home runs and 47 runs batted in. Sarah Prosise is hitting .310, while Caitlin Murphy is hitting at a .309 clip. Callie Rhodes has been nearly unstoppable on the base paths, stealing 30 bases in 33 attempts. Rachel Pacheco, Katie Maynard and Karie Morrison have handled the majority of the pitching duties for the Hokies. Pacheco is 13-5 with a team-best 1.96 ERA. Maynard boasts a team-high 14 win (14-11) with a 2.74 ERA and six complete-game shutouts. She has 186 strikeouts in 173 and two-thirds innings. Morrison is 7-3 with a 3.30 earned run average. She has one complete-game shutout and combined with Pacheco on two more.
