Orange Kicks Off Homestand Versus Canisius
4/24/2006 5:48:14 PM | Softball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - SU will play its final seven games of the regular season at the SU Softball Stadium beginning with a non-conference clash against Canisius on Wednesday, April 26 at 5:00 p.m. The Orange is 8-2 at home this season and unbeaten in its own facility against non-league opponents (4-0). Todd Robbins will call the action on suathletics.com. Fans can hear the live audio broadcast by signing up for Orange All-Access, SU's multi-media subscription service.
SU swept its only two home non-conference doubleheaders, versus Niagara and Hofstra, on April 12 and April 13, respectively. SU is 30-19 overall and is currently in fourth place in the BIG EAST standings with a 12-6 conference record. Last week at Cornell, SU broke the previous team season record for wins (28) taking two games from the Big Red. The Orange’s 12 conference victories in 2006 are tied for the most in team history. SU also won 12 BIG EAST games in 2002.
LAST TIME OUT
Syracuse handed South Florida 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 no-hit the Bulls for six and two-thirds innings before the no-hit bid was broken up by Krista Holle, who singled, with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. South Florida won the opening game of the twin bill, 3-1, to earn a split in the doubleheader.
Switenko allowed just three base runners in game two. 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 contest to improve to 12-3 on the season.
The Orange scored the only run of game two in the third inning. Freshman Dani Stuart led off the frame with a walk. She advanced to third on a single by sophomore Chanel Roehner and scored on a sacrifice fly by rookie Tonye McCorkle.
In the first game, South Florida trailed, 1-0, but scored three runs on four hits in the sixth to earn the victory.
JUST HITS BABY!
Freshman Tonye McCorkle led the Orange with a .579 batting average (11-19) in six games last week. She matched her career high with three hits three times during the week. She also scored a personal-best three runs in SU’s 6-1 win at Cornell on April 19. McCorkle whacked her 12th and 13th doubles of the season last week to tie Katie Kaempfer for the SU freshman record for two-baggers, and her 13 doubles is tied for the third-most by an SU player in one season. McCorkle increased her season hits total to 53, one away from tying the Orange freshman mark and two short of the SU season hits record.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GRIFFINS
Canisius is 20-18 overall thus far in 2006 and is 5-1 in the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Golden Griffins have won four of its last five with its only loss coming at the hands of Buffalo on April 18, 3-2. Canisius is currently in second place in the league standings behind Marist who owns the top spot with a 7-1 conference mark.
Katie Miranto is the only Golden Griffin hitting better than .300. She is batting a robust .398 (49-123) with 10 doubles, four triples and four home runs. All four totals are team bests (Jess Martin also has four homers). Martin leads the team in runs batted in (17). Miranto’s .398 batting average ranks fourth in the conference.
In the circle, Lindsay Garbacz is 6-4 oveall and leads Canisius with a 1.77 earned run average. She has 66 strikeouts in 75 and a third innings. Courtney Piar leads the club with nine victories. She has a 2.39 earned run average and 123 strikeouts in 93 and two-thirds innings pitched. Teams are hitting just .199 off Piar.
ABOUT THE SERIES
Syracuse is 5-3 all-time against the Golden Griffins and the Orange has won four of the last five meetings. The two teams split a twin bill at Canisius last year with SU winning game one, 4-1, but losing in nine innings in the nightcap, 6-3. SU has won three of the four games contested between the two clubs at the SU Softball Stadium. The Orange’s last home defeat against Canisius was on May 1, 2001 by the score of 4-2.
