Cassie Morales is third in the BIG EAST in hitting, first in hits and tied for first in total bases during league play.
BIG EAST Regular Season Crown at Stake in Final Weekend
4/29/2005 1:44:29 PM | Softball
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The BIG EAST regular-season championship is on the line when the Orange softball (27-16, 11-3) team plays at Pittsburgh (18-24, 4-6) on Saturday, April 30 and at Notre Dame (36-10, 11-1) on Sunday, May 1 in the final regular-season games of the season.
SU is currently tied for second place in the league with Notre Dame. Four victories by the Orange this weekend would assure at least a three-way tie for first between Syracuse, Notre Dame and Seton Hall. SU would win the tiebreaker in that scenario with a 3-1 record against the Pirates and Fighting Irish.
Syracuse has already clinched a spot in the BIG EAST Tournament thanks to Boston College’s loss to Providence last Tuesday. The Orange can assure themselves of at least the third seed with one win versus Pittsburgh.
SU has already won a school-record 27 games. If the Orange can score two victories this weekend it will also eclipse the program’s record for most conference victories. The 2002 team, SU’s other BIG EAST postseason qualifier, went 12-6 in league play.
The Orange has been the BIG EAST’s top hitting team in league games with a .339 batting average. Four SU players rank among the top six in the league led by Tiffany Robinson. The senior is hitting a conference-best .500 (17-for-34). Cassie Morales ranks second with a .438 batting average in BIG EAST games, and leads the conference with 21 hits and 40 total bases. Tanya Rose is fourth at .422 and paces the BIG EAST with 14 runs scored in 14 league games. Shawna Norris rounds out the group with a .375 batting average. SU will face the other two batters in the top six during the weekend. Pittsburgh’s Francesca DiMaria is second in the conference with a .441 average (15-34), while Notre Dame’s Carrie Wisen is fifth with a .400 average (10-25).
In the circle, Erin Downey boasts an 8-1 record in league play and a 16-7 overall mark. Two more victories would break the SU single-season record set by teammate Courtney Mosch last season. Downey has a 2.01 overall ERA with 171 strikeouts. Mosch is 10-9 on the season with a team-leading 1.65 earned run average. She has struck out 115 batters.
Pittsburgh has not played since losing twice to Seton Hall on April 23. The Panthers have lost three straight games overall. The all-time series between the Orange and Pittsburgh is even at 4-4. SU swept a home doubleheader with the Panthers last season, 8-7 and 6-5 in nine innings. Pitt won both games the last time SU visited Trees Field in 2003, 3-2 and 9-5.
Notre Dame has won 25 of its last 27 games, including a 4-3 victory against 15th-ranked DePaul on Tuesday. The Fighting Irish will play Boston College beginning at 3 p.m. on Friday before hosting the Orange on Sunday. The Irish lead the all-time series with Syracuse 8-1, including five consecutive victories. UND scored a pair of five-inning victories at home versus SU last season, 11-3 and 8-0. Syracuse’s only win in the series came at Ivy Field in 2002 when the Orange shut out the Irish, 3-0, in the second game of a doubleheader.
The four teams that qualify for the BIG EAST Tournament will play at the Belleville Softball Complex in South Bend, Ind. beginning on Thursday, May 12. The double-elimination tournament will run Thursday through Saturday with Sunday, May 15 reserved as a rain date.
Women's Lacrosse Postgame Press Conference vs. #7 Yale
Tuesday, March 17
Highlights | Syracuse vs. Yale
Tuesday, March 17
MLAX | Postgame Press Conference at Denver
Tuesday, March 17
Highlights | Syracuse vs. Denver
Tuesday, March 17
