Alexis Switenko picked up her 11th win at Cornell. This season marks the first time in team history two pitchers have won at least 11 games.
Orange Hits Road for Two Critical Weekend Series
4/20/2006 9:47:19 AM | Softball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Orange (29-16, 11-3) will play four crucial road games against two of the top teams in the BIG EAST this weekend. SU travels to #23/21 Louisville on Friday, April 21 for a twin bill versus the Cardinals (26-8, 5-3) at Ulmer Stadium beginning at 4:00 p.m. The Orange will also visit conference leader South Florida (38-19, 8-0) on Sunday, April 23 for a 12:00 p.m.doubleheader at the USF Softball Field.
ORANGE SETS TEAM WINS RECORD
Syracuse took both game of a doubleheader at Cornell on April 19 to increase its season victory total to 29, breaking the previous team record for wins in a season. Last year’s edition of the Orange won 28 games and finished with an overall record of 28-22. SU is 13 games above .500, the most games above the mark in team history. The Orange is 20-3 since March 18 and 9-0 against non-conference foes in that span.
DOWNEY EARNS RECORD-BREAKING 18TH WIN
Sophomore hurler Erin Downey (San Rafael, Calif.) established a new record of her own at Cornell on April 19. Downey tossed all seven innings in SU’s, 6-2, victory against the Big Red in game one to improve to 18-13 on the season. Her 18 victories are a new individual record for wins in a season, breaking the previous single-season mark of 17 she shared with Courtney Mosch. Downey added to her season record total for strikeouts with six in the contest. She has 224 whiffs on the season.
TEAM HITS RECORD IN DANGER
The Orange smashed 24 hits in its doubleheader sweep at Cornell on April 19 and now has 347 hits for the season. The school record for hits in a single campaign is 369 established last year. SU is averaging 7.7 hits per game and one in every 3.4 at-bats. Senior Alexis Switenko (Blue Anchor, N.J.) leads the Orange with 51 base knocks and will likely break the individual single-season hits record of 55 shared by Tanya Rose and classmate Cassie Morales (Whittier, Calif.).
LAST TIME OUT
Freshman Tonye McCorke (Santa Ana Heights, Calif.) was 6-for-8 on the day to lead the SU to a 6-2 victory in the first game against the Big Red on April 19 and a 6-2 triumph in the nightcap. She had three hits in each game. McCorkle has 15 multiple-hit games in 2006 which is tied for the team lead. She also scored three runs in the second game.
Switenko went 2-for-4 at the plate in both contests to extend her hitting streak to 11 games. Switenko also had a 10-game hitting streak earlier this year. She is the first SU player to record two separate hitting streaks of at least 10 games in the same season. Switenko drove in four runs on the day, including three in game two.
The Orange out-hit Cornell, 15-6, in game one and each SU batter finished with at least one hit. In addition to McCorkle, Morales also had three hits for SU in the contest, including her eighth homer of the year.
In the nightcap, SU continued its offensive onslaught, scoring three runs in the first innings and didn’t look back.
McCorkle was 3-for-4 at the plate in game two Freshman Lindsay Wasek (Newtown, Pa.) also had a pair of singles for the Orange and was 2-for-3.
Switenko improved to 11-2 on the season in the circle. She allowed just one unearned run in seven innings. She struck out six and gave up eight hits.
SCOUTING LOUISVILLE
Louisville is ranked 23rd in the ESPN.com/USA Softball national rankings and it owns the 21st position in this week’s USA Today/NFCA poll. The Cardinals are 26-8 and 5-3 in the BIG EAST after losing twice to South Florida. The Cardinals lost, 3-1, to Kentucky on April 19 in its most recent outing.
The Cardinals’ pitching staff leads the conference in earned run average (1.17) and opponent batting average (.165). Catherine Bishop leads the conference in ERA (0.82) and owns a 17-5 record.
Lacy Wood (.394) and Courtney Moore (.378) entered this week fourth and fifth in the BIG EAST in hitting, respectively. They are also third and fourth in the slugging percentage at .695 and .653, respectively. Moore leads the league in on-base percentage (.491).
SCOUTING SOUTH FLORIDA
The Bulls have played more games than any other team in the BIG EAST and sit atop the standings with an 8-0 mark in league play and a 38-19 record overall. USF received votes in both national polls after taking two games from Louisville last weekend. USF is third in the conference in team batting average (.286) and second in team ERA (1.37).
Christi Ecks is second in the BIG EAST in strikeouts behind Erin Downey at 164. She has 16 wins and has pitched 159 innings. Bree Spence has also been dominant in the circle, winning 17 games versus just six losses. Both pitchers’ earned run averages are under 2.00.
Krista Holle is hitting .358 with 10 doubles to pace the Bulls’ offense. Tiffany Stewart leads the team in home runs (8) and runs batted in (36).
The Bulls host Pittsburgh in a twin bill on April 19 before facing SU.
SERIES RECORDS
Friday’s games will mark the first time the Orange and the Cardinals have ever squared off on the diamond. SU is 0-1 all-time versus South Florida, losing 4-2 at the Clearwater Parks and Recreation Tournament in 2000.
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