May's Two Home Runs Lead Cornell Past Syracuse

Wednesday, April 20

Syracuse, N.Y.

3 p.m.

Syracuse University

Cornell

Erin Gray had three hits and two RBI in the Orange's loss to Cornell.

4/20/2005 6:11:40 PM | Softball

Cornell 6, Syracuse 5

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Cornell’s Lauren May collected six RBI on two home runs to lead Cornell past Syracuse, 6-5, on Wednesday, April 20 at the SU Softball Stadium. The Orange is now 23-14, while the Big Red improved to 20-16. Game two of the doubleheader was cancelled do the wet weather and field conditions.

May belted home runs in consecutive at-bats to account for all six of the Big Red’s runs. She hit a two-run shot in the fourth inning and a grand slam in the fifth to give Cornell a 6-4 lead. May, Cornell’s all-time leader in home runs, now has 11 long balls on the season.

Syracuse’s Cassie Morales went deep as well, hitting her fifth home run of the season. Morales finished the game with two hits, two runs scored and an RBI. Sophomore Erin Gray tied her career high with three hits. She also drove in two runs. Senior Tanya Rose added two hits.

Freshman Erin Downey (13-6) was the losing pitcher for SU, snapping her personal five-game winning streak. Downey threw seven innings, allowing six runs on seven hits. She struck out six and walked three. Jen Meunier (12-4) was the winner, giving up five runs on nine hits. She struck out five and walked four.

SU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Junior Alexis Switenko drove in the first run with a single and sophomore Courtney Mosch added an RBI double. Gray came through with a bases-loaded single up the middle for SU’s third run.

The Big Red cut the lead to 3-2 in fourth inning. A leadoff walk set the table for May’s first home run, a two-run shot to right field. Morales pushed the lead back to two runs in the bottom of the inning with a two-out home run to right.

Cornell took the lead for good in the fifth. Two infield singles and a walk loaded the bases with two outs. May took a high and inside pitch over the left-field fence to make the score, 6-4.

The Orange battled back in the bottom of the seventh. With runners on first and second with two out, Gray singled through the left side to cut the lead to 6-5. The base runners moved to second and third on the throw to the plate. Senior catcher Jaime Grillo nearly drove home the winning runs, but her sharp line drive to right was snared by Samantha Hare to end the game.

Syracuse has now lost consecutive games for the first time since March 17 and 18 versus seventh-ranked Louisana-Lafayette and eighth-ranked Oklahoma. The Big Red's win avenged two earlier season losses to the Orange.

SU will play its final two home doubleheaders of the season beginning on Friday, April 22 versus Villanova at 4 p.m. The Orange will host Rutgers on Sunday, April 24 at noon.