Sunday, April 23
Tampa, Fl.
12:00 p.m.
Syracuse University
1
at
3
South Florida
Alexis Switenko was one out away from a no-hitter in game two at South Florida.
SU Hands South Florida First Conference Loss as Switenko Pitches Gem
4/23/2006 2:39:33 PM | Softball
TAMPA, Fla. – Syracuse (30-19, 12-6) handed South Florida (41-20, 11-1) its first conference loss, defeating the Bulls, 1-0, in the second game of a doubleheader on Sunday, April 23 at the USF Softball Field. Senior Alexis Switenko (Blue Anchor, N.J.) no-hit the Bulls for six and two-thirds innings before the no-hit bid was broken up on a single by Krista Holle with two outs in the seventh. South Florida won the opening game of the twin bill, 3-1, to earn a split in the two games.
With its victory in game two, the Orange tied the team record for conference wins in one campaign. SU also won 12 league contests in 2002.
Freshman Tonye McCorkle (Santa Ana Heights, Calif.) was 4-for-6 versus South Florida. She had three hits in the opening game and one in the nightcap. She increased her season hits total to 53, two short of tying the SU season record and one shy of the Orange freshman hits standard (54, Tanya Rose, 2002).
Switenko singled twice in game one and also has 53 base knocks on the season. Switenko has 324 career total bases, one shy of tying Rose for the SU all-time lead. Switenko’s RBI in the first game was her 36th of the season which ranks second on SU’s single-season list. She holds the Orange season record with 40 RBI in 2004.
SU put runners on base in six of its seven innings in game one, but only came away with one run, pushing a runner across in the fifth to take the lead in the game, 1-0. McCorkle led off the inning with single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Rachel Tilford (Birch Hills, Saskatchewan). Freshman Heather Kim (Boulder, Colo.) moved her to third on a ground out, setting the stage for Switenko who ripped a two-out base hit up the middle to drive her in.
After SU starter Erin Downey (San Rafael, Calif.) worked out of a two-on, nobody-out jam in the bottom of the fifth to keep South Florida off the scoreboard, the Bulls struck for three runs in the sixth to claim a 3-1 margin. Samantha Ray opened the inning with a single down the leftfield line. She stole second and scored on Christie Chapman’s double to right. Tiffany Stewart followed with a double of her own to drive in Chapman and Stewart came home on a single by Holle.
Bulls’ pitcher Kristi Ecks allowed one hit, a single by sophomore Chanel Roehner (Simi Valley, Calif.) in the seventh, but worked around it to seal the victory and pick up her third save of the season. South Florida starter Bree Spence pitched six innings and allowed eight hits, all singles. She walked one and struck out a batter to earn the win.
McCorkle went 3-for-4 at the plate for the Orange and Switenko was 2-for-3.
Downey allowed six hits in the contest, four of which came in the sixth inning. She walked one and struck out four. Downey is 18-15 in the circle this season.
Chapman and Stewart each had two hits for South Florida. Both players also drove in a run.
In the nightcap, Switenko was one out away from pitching the third no-hitter in team history, but with two outs in the seventh Holle singled to right center to break it up. Switenko rebounded though, retiring Ashley Bullion on a fly ball to left to put the finishing touches on the victory.
Switenko allowed just three base runners in the contest. In addition to Holle, Switenko walked Britta Giddens to lead off the game and surrendered another base on balls in the fourth. She struck out three in the game to improve to 12-3 on the season.
The Orange scored the only run of game two in the third. Freshman Dani Stuart (Centralia, Wash.) led off the frame with a walk. She advanced to third on a single by Roehner and scored on a sacrifice fly by McCorkle.
McCorkle and Roehner had the only two hits in the contest as Ecks went all seven innings in the circle for the Bulls. She took the hard-luck loss to fall to 17-11 on the year.
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