Downey; Kelley Propel Orange into Quarterfinals of Buzz Classic

Saturday, March 4

Atlanta, Ga.

4:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

vs. Winthrop (Buzz Classic)

Erin Downey struck out a career-best 18 batters versus Georgia State.

Downey; Kelley Propel Orange into Quarterfinals of Buzz Classic

3/5/2006 12:09:42 AM | Softball

SU 8, WIN 5
SU 7, GSU 5

MARIETTA, Ga. – Sophomore Erin Downey (San Rafael, Calif.) struck a career-high 18 batters and rookie Amy Kelley (Bend, Ore.) crushed a two-out, pinch-hit grand slam in the sixth to lift the sixth-seeded Orange (8-6) to a 7-5 victory versus the 11^th seed, Georgia State (6-10), in the first round of bracket play at the Marriott Buzz Classic on March 4 at the Al Bishop Softball Complex. Syracuse defeated Dartmouth earlier in the day, 9-0, and knocked off Winthrop in the program’s 300^th game, 8-5, to close out pool play and advance to the championship bracket. The Orange will meet third-seeded North Carolina State in the quarterfinals at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, March 5. The Wolfpack received one of the tournament's three first-round byes.

Down 5-2 in the sixth against Georgia State, freshman Kim Weinstein (Tarzana, Calf.) ripped an RBI double to pull the Orange within two, 5-3. Classmate Dani Stuart (Centralia, Wash.), who reached on a single earlier in the frame, advanced to third on the play. Weinstein was lifted for a pinch runner, and with freshman Nicole Miller (Simi Valley, Calif.) at the plate head coach Mary Jo Firnbach attempted a squeeze. Miller got the bunt down, but Georgia State pitcher Meghan McCoy flipped the ball to Jackie Jaegle to nail Stuart at the plate for the second out of the inning. Pinch runner Lindsay Wasek (Newtown, Pa. advanced to third and Miller moved up to second base on the fielder’s choice. Freshman Jorden Rosen (Sugar Land, Texas) drew a walk to load the bases setting the stage for Kelley, who hit in place of sophomore Rachel Tilford (Birch Hills, Saskatchewan). It was the second grand slam for the Orange this season and the fourth in team history. The blast put SU in front 7-5 and was the first-ever pinch-hit homer by an SU player.

Now pitching with the lead for the first time in the game, Downey whiffed the first two Georgia State hitters in the seventh, and after a single by Jaegle, struck out McCoy to end the game.

Downey (4-4), making her second straight start, fanned the side four times in the game. Her 18 whiffs was three short of SU and NCAA record for strikeouts in a game of nine innings or less. The performance propelled her past Courtney Mosch and into third on SU’s career strikeout ledger with 263. She has 34 strikeouts in the tournament thus far and is averaging better than 10 whiffs per game.

Senior Alexis Switenko (Blue Anchor, N.J.) went 2-for-2 with two runs scored and two runs batted in. She belted her third homer in three games, a two-run shot in the bottom of the first versus the Lady Panthers. With the blast she became the first SU player to reach 100 career RBI.

The Orange fell behind quickly in the first inning versus the Lady Panthers. Georgia State scored four runs on two hits in the frame. The big blow came from Alison Bradford who crushed a three-run homer.

Switenko’s two-run blast made the score 4-2 after one full inning.

The Lady Panthers tacked on another run in the second on a solo shot by Mary Branan to increase their margin to three, 5-2. Downey hit the next batter, but settled in after that striking out the next eight Georgia State hitters and 13 of the next 14.

In its final game of pool play, versus Winthrop, the Orange rallied back from a 3-1 deficit in the bottom of the third to take a 4-3 lead on back-to-back homers by Morales and Switenko. It was the second time this season the Orange launched back-to-back long balls.

The Lady Eagles tied the score at 4-4 in the top of the fifth on a leadoff homer by Tessa Thomas and reclaimed the lead, 5-4, when Blaser knocked in Stephanie Reid, who reached on a single and stole second base.

Syracuse grabbed the advantage for good in the bottom of the inning, scoring four runs on four singles, one each by Morales, Stuart, Weinstein and Rosen.

Downey scattered seven hits over seven innings and struck out six to earn the win.

Switenko, Morales, Rosen and freshman Tonye McCorkle (Santa Ana Heights, Calif.) each had two hits in the contest for the Orange, which out-hit Winthrop, 11-7.

Laura Hill finished the game 2-for-4 with three runs batted in and Stephanie Reid also had two hits for the Lady Eagles. Izzy Trottier, who replaced starter Shahna Ashard in the third inning, took the loss.

The Orange is 4-1 at the tournament with its only loss coming at the hands of the top-seeded Minnesota on March 3