Wednesday, May 3
SU Softball Stadium
3:00 p.m.
Syracuse University
10
vs
5
Buffalo
Cassie Morales hit two homers in SU's doubleheader sweep of Buffalo.
Seniors Lead SU to Sweep in Regular-Season Finale
5/3/2006 7:44:01 PM | Softball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Orange’s two seniors led SU (36-20) to a pair of victories against Buffalo (13-41) in their final appearances at the SU Softball Stadium on Wednesday, May 3. Cassie Morales (Whittier, Calif.) went 4-for-6 with four RBI in the sweep, including a home run in each game, and Alexis Switenko (Blue Anchor, N.J.) earned the victory in both contests as the Orange defeated the Bulls, 10-5, in game one and 10-1 in five innings in the nightcap.
Morales’ two home runs were her 10th and 11th of the year, moving her into second place on SU’s career home run ledger. She now has 25 career long balls. Switenko tossed three and a third innings of relief to get the win in the opening game and pitched a complete game in the nightcap to improve to 16-3 on the season.
Morales cranked a solo homer in the bottom of the first inning in game one to put the Orange in front, 1-0.
SU starter Erin Downey (San Rafael, Calif.) allowed four hits and walked two in the first three innings, but was able to consistently work out of trouble as the Bulls stranded two runners in the first, two in the second and one in the third to maintain SU’s one-run margin.
The Orange tacked on three runs in its half of the third on two hits and the help of two Buffalo errors. Morales and freshman Kim Weinstein (Tarzana, Calif.) each delivered RBI singles in the frame.
The Bulls came back in the top of the fourth to score five runs and take a 5-4 advantage in the contest. Downey retired Buffalo’s first two hitters, but surrendered a double and four straight singles before being lifted in favor of Switenko. The first batter Switenko faced was Sophie Barstad, who singled to keep the rally alive, and Laura Kor reached on error before Lacy Schneider struck out to end the inning.
In the fourth, SU reclaimed the lead, 7-5, scoring three times on one hit. Switenko and Weinstein each recorded RBI in the frame on bases loaded walks by Barstad, who relieved Bulls’ starter Jennifer Biernacki. It could have been worse, but Barstad got junior Erin Gray (Katy, Texas) to ground out with the bases loaded to end the inning.
The Orange added two runs in the fifth on a two-run single by sophomore Rachel Tilford (Birch Hills, Saskatchewan) and tacked on a run in the sixth on an RBI single by Nicole Miller (Simi Valley, Calif.) to end the scoring.
Morales was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI. Tilford also went 2-for-3 and scored twice and Roehner tied her career high with three runs scored in the contest.
Switenko allowed just the single to Barstad in her three-plus innings of work. She walked two and struck out four.
Mary Russell was 3-for-3 with a run scored for Buffalo. Laura Picciano also had two hits in the contest. Erin Zilka went 1-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs.
The Bulls actually out-hit the Orange, 10-6, in the game.
Switenko allowed just one unearned run in game two. The Bulls took the lead, 1-0, in the top of the third inning when Marcy Hansen reached on an error by SU outfielder Tonye McCorkle (Santa Ana Heights, Calif.) and later scored when Dani Stuart (Centralia, Wash.) couldn’t handle a slow roller down to third.
The lead wouldn’t last long as the Orange scored four times in the bottom half of the frame to claim a three-run advantage. Morales and Switenko hit back-to-back doubles and both players scored in the inning. Rookie Amy Kelley (Bend, Ore.) plated one run with single and Rosen singled in two more.
The Orange’s offense continued to click in the fourth as SU scored six times on six hits. The Orange belted two homers in the inning, a two-run shot by Morales and a two-out, two-run blast by Rosen. Kelley drove in the other two Orange runs with a double into left center and SU took a 10-1 lead into the top of the fifth.
In the fifth, Hansen walked to lead off the inning and Russell singled to put runners on first and second with nobody out, but Switenko retired the next three hitters, including the final two via strikeouts to invoke the mercy rule.
Switenko was 3-for-3 in game two. She scored twice and drove in a run. Her two runs scored increased her season total to 42, breaking another Orange single season record held by Tanya Rose, who held the record scoring 41 times in 2004. In the circle, Switenko allowed five hits and struck out four to pick up the win.
Rosen finished the game 2-for-2 and had a career-high four runs batted in. Kelley went 2-for-3 and drove in three. Morales also had two hits for the Orange. She scored twice and drove in two.
McCorkle smacked her 14th double of the year in the nightcap, to move into a tie for second on the SU single-season doubles chart. Her 14 two-baggers is an Orange freshman record.
Syracuse concluded its regular-season ending homestand 6-1 and will next be in action on Thursday, May 11 in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament held at the Belleville Softball Complex in South Bend, Ind.
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