Downey Blanks Mercer on Final Day of Long Beach State Invitational

Sunday, March 12

Long Beach, Calif.

1:00 p.m. EST

Syracuse University

vs. Mercer (Long Beach State Invitational)

Erin Downey fanned nine in SU's 5-0 shutout of Mercer.

Downey Blanks Mercer on Final Day of Long Beach State Invitational

3/12/2006 5:37:21 PM | Softball

SU 5, MU 0

LAKEWOOD, Calif. – Sophomore Erin Downey (San Rafael, Calif.) pitched her first shutout of 2006 to lead the Orange (9-11) to a 5-0 triumph against Mercer (6-15) at Mayfair Park on Sunday, March 12 in the Orange’s last game at the Long Beach State Invitational. Downey went all seven innings, struck out nine and allowed just four hits in the contest.

Syracuse, which struggled offensively for most of the tournament, had its most productive game at the plate, pounding out nine hits. Freshmen Tonye McCorkle (Santa Ana Heights, Calif.), Heather Kim (Boulder, Colo.), Kim Weinstein (Tarzana, Calif.) and sophomore Rachel Tilford (Birch Hills, Saskatchewan) each had two hits in the game. McCorkle and Kim each registered their first career triples in the contest and Kim recorded her third multi-RBI game of the year, knocking in two runs.

McCorkle sparked the Orange right away, leading off the game with her three-base hit. Freshman Dani Stuart (Centralia, Wash.) followed with a walk and Kim ripped a single through the left side to score McCorkle, giving SU the early lead. Senior Alexis Switenko (Blue Anchor, N.J.) followed with an RBI ground out to second, driving in Stuart and the Orange were quickly ahead, 2-0. Weinstein kept the inning alive, reaching on an error by Bears’ first baseman Jamie Madruga and Kim scored on the play to increase SU’s margin to 3-0 after one half inning.

Syracuse hammered three straight singles, leading to a run in the second to take a 4-0 advantage. Stuart delivered her third hit in the last two games in the frame to score Tilford from second. It was Stuart’s first career run batted in.

Downey worked around base runners in each of the first three innings to keep Mercer off the scoreboard and preserve SU’s four-run margin.

After Tilford led off the fourth inning with a single and stole second, she advanced to third on a ground out by Stuart. Kim followed with a triple, launching one into the gap in right center to score Tilford and increase SU’s lead to 5-0.

The Bears put runners on base in three of the last four innings, but Downey bore down each time to preserve her fifth career shutout.

Katie Rosentreter took the loss for the Bears, allowing eight hits and five runs in four innings. Stephanie Rossman pitched the final three innings. Rossman surrendered one hit and struck out four.

The Orange will remain in the Golden State to compete at the Capital Classic, hosted by Sacramento State from Friday, March 17 through Sunday, March 19. SU will compete against Southern Utah and Wisconsin on the first day of the tournament.