Switenko Sets SU Career Home Run Record; Orange Finishes Breast Cancer Strikeout Classic Unbeaten

Sunday, February 26

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

9:00 a.m.

Syracuse University

vs. Lipscomb (Breast Cancer Strikeout Classic)

Alexis Switenko has 25 career homers, the most in school history.

Switenko Sets SU Career Home Run Record; Orange Finishes Breast Cancer Strikeout Classic Unbeaten

2/26/2006 7:07:37 PM | Softball

SU 7, LU 3
SU 6, UTM 3

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Senior Alexis Switenko (Blue Anchor, N.J.) became the Syracuse all-time leader in home runs with two long balls against Lipscomb on Sunday, Feb. 26. Switenko increased her career total to 25 homers, breaking her tie with Tanya Rose atop the career homer list. The Orange (4-5) extended its winning streak to four games, finishing the Breast Cancer Strikeout Classic title with a 4-0 record after defeating Lipscomb, 7-3, and posting a 6-3 decision versus Tennessee-Martin on Sunday at the Murfreesboro Star Plex.

It was the third time in her career and the sixth time in school history a player has hit two homers in a game. Switenko also scored two runs and drove in four versus the Bison, increasing her school-record RBI total to 96. On the mound, she pitched all seven innings for the Orange, scattering nine hits to earn her second win of the season.

Six of the seven Orange runs in the game came via the long ball as SU clubbed four homers versus Lipscomb, tying the school record set against Rutgers on April 29, 2002.

Syracuse struck for three runs in the bottom of the first to grab the early lead. Two came on Switenko’s first blast and the third came when senior Cassie Morales (Whittier, Calif.) reached on a fielder’s choice, scoring freshman Dani Stuart (Centralia, Wash.).

The Orange tacked on another run in the second on rookie Jorden Rosen’s (Sugar Land, Texas) first career homer and SU scored three times in the third to take a 7-0 advantage. Two of SU’s third-inning runs came on Switenko’s second two-run blast, and the third on a solo shot by freshman Amy Kelley (Bend, Ore.), the first big fly of her career.

The Bison scored twice in the fourth and added another run in the sixth on a solo home run by Jessica Wilson to produce the final score.

Wilson finished the game 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI and Leigh Little went 3-for-4 for the Bison. Starting pitcher Kim Jacobson took the loss after giving up three runs in the first, her only inning of work.

Sophomore Chanel Roehner went 2-for-4 with two singles and a stolen base for SU.

In the Orange’s final contest of the tournament, versus Tennessee-Martin, SU again did its damage with the long ball. Roehner cracked her second homer of the year, a two-run shot, in the fifth and moved into a tie for seventh on the Orange’s all-time home run ledger. Rookie Kim Weinstein (Tarzana, Calif.) got in on the act, launching the first homer of her career to give SU an insurance run in the seventh.

Sophomore Erin Downey (San Rafael, Calif.) pitched a complete game, three-hitter. She struck out a season-high 10 batters, to record the eighth double-digit strikeout game of her career.

The Orange secured an early lead again versus the Skyhawks, scoring a run in the first when Roehner scored on a wild pitch by Tennessee-Martin hurler Ashton Strode after drawing a walk to lead off the inning.

The score remained 1-0 until the fifth when SU plated four runs to extend its margin to 5-0. Sophomore Rachel Tilford (Birch Hills, Saskatchewan) singled to open the frame and scored on Roehner’s home run. After consecutive singles by Morales and Switenko, Strode was lifted for Holly Templeton. Templeton got Weinstein to ground out but, freshman Nicole Miller (Simi Valley, Calif.) delivered a two-run single to push the lead to five.

The Skyhawks answered with three runs in the bottom half of the inning. Downey got Emily Webb to ground out to start the inning and fanned Jenni Young, but Young reached base on a dropped third strike. Stacey Weaver singled to put runners on first and second and Greer Long cleared the bases with a three-run homer to pull the Skyhawks within two, 5-3.

After Weintein’s blast made it 6-3 in the seventh, Tennessee-Martin put two runners on in the bottom of the inning, but Downey was able to work out of the jam.

Miller went to 2-for-3 with two runs batted in to record the first multi-RBI game of her career for the Orange.

Greer, Weaver and Brandy Whalen each registered hits for the Skyhawks.

The Orange returns to the diamond on Friday, March 3 when it begins play at the Buzz Classic in Atlanta, Ga. versus Eastern Michigan and Minnesota.