SU Loses Twice in Final Inning on First Day of Long Beach State Invitational

Friday, March 10

Long Beach, Calif.

2:15 p.m. EST

Syracuse University

vs. #24/23 Mississippi State (Long Beach State Invitational)

Heather Kim hit the first home run of her career against Mississippi State.

SU Loses Twice in Final Inning on First Day of Long Beach State Invitational

3/10/2006 10:29:51 PM | Softball

MSU 2, SU 1

MU 2, SU 1

LAKEWOOD, Calif. – Syracuse (8-9) lost twice in the bottom of the seventh inning on the first day of the Long Beach State Invitational at Mayfair Park on Friday, March 10. The Orange lost, 2-1, on a walk-off single versus #24/23 Mississippi State (19-4) and also fell 2-1 to Mercer (6-11) when C.J. Martin singled and came around to score on two defensive errors.

In the first game versus Mississippi State, the Bulldogs’ Callye Williams singled to open the bottom of the seventh inning and pinch hitter Lindsay Hunley drew a walk to put runners on first and second with no outs. After Michelle Kinney grounded out, Hayle Guess came up and drilled an Erin Downey (San Rafael, Calif.) offering off first baseman Heather Kim’s (Boulder, Colo.) glove and down the right field line for an RBI single to provide the winning margin.

The game was tightly contested throughout, but Kim got SU on the scoreboard in the top of the first, returning to the Orange lineup after missing six games with a two-out, solo home run to left to put SU in front, 1-0. It was Kim’s first career homer and SU’s 18^th of the season.

That would be all the offense SU could muster as Bulldogs’s starter Ragan Blake quieted the Orange bats for the remainder of the game, allowing just a pair of singles the rest of the way.

Downey, starting her fourth straight game, shut down the Mississippi State offense for the first three innings, but the Bulldogs rallied to tie the score in the fourth. Courtney Bures led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Sammie Jo Bailey followed with an RBI triple to right to drive in Bures. The Bulldogs stranded Bailey on third as Downey was able to work out of trouble, inducing groundouts by Laura Leigh Reese and Williams to end the threat.

Guess finished the game 1-for-2 with a run batted in for the Bulldogs. Bures also had two hits.

Downey scattered seven hits and struck out seven for the Orange.

In the second game, Mercer and Syracuse combined for a total of six hits. Orange starter Alexis Switenko (Blue Anchor, N.J.) and Mercer hurler Katie Rosentreter matched each other zero for through four innings with Switenko giving up just two hits in the first four frames and Rosentreter allowing none.

The Orange threatened to score in the fifth when Amy Kelley (Bend, Ore.) led off the inning with a triple, SU’s first hit of the game, but she was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Nicole Miller’s (Simi Valley, Calif.) ground out. Rosentreter struck out Tilford to end the inning.

Syracuse finally broke through in the sixth. Freshman Tonye McCorkle (Santa Ana Heights, Calif.) drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a throwing error by Bears’ third baseman Ashley Anderson to pull ahead, 1-0.

Mercer tied the game in the bottom of the frame on an RBI double by Kristin Talamantes off Downey, who replaced Switenko in the pitching circle at the start of the inning. The Bears scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh when Martin’s base hit skipped past Gray in right field, allowing her to go to third and she scored when Miller juggled the relay throw.

Downey (4-6), who pitched 1.1 innings and struck out two, was saddled with the loss. Rosentreter earned the victory, tossing all seven innings. She struck out 10, walked two and allowed just two SU hits.

Downey stuck out nine batters in the two games and extended her school-record streak of consecutive appearances with a strikeout to 40. Kelley’s triple was the first of her career and the first three-base hit for SU this season. Tilford swiped her first career base in the third inning after reaching first on a dropped third strike.

Each team left five runners on base.

The Orange resumes play at the tournament on Saturday, March 11 when it takes on #4/4 UCLA at 6:45 p.m. EST and the host Long Beach State 49ers at 9:00 p.m. EST.