April 8, 2006
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Junior Carissa Jaquish picked the perfect time for her first home run in nearly two years, as her two-run blast in the 10th inning gave Notre Dame a 7-5 victory at Syracuse in the second game of Saturday’s BIG EAST Conference doubleheader at SU’s Softball Stadium at Skytop. The host Orange won the opener, 2-1, handing the Irish their first league loss of the season.
Sophomore Katie Laing led off the 10th inning of the nightcap with a double to the gap in right-center field. After junior Gessica Hufnagle successfully sacrificed Laing to third, Jaquish stepped up and went deep over the wall in right center for the second home run of her career, and first since April 22, 2004 at Illinois-Chicago. Those two RBI also tied her career high set on April 10, 2004 against Syracuse.
Senior Heather Booth, who had her five-game winning streak snapped with the hard-luck loss in the opener, started a new success string in the nightcap, working the final five innings to improve to 11-8 on the season. Booth allowed just two hits and one run, but did walk four batters and struck out one.
Senior third baseman Meagan Ruthrauff had a strong afternoon with three hits in the doubleheader, including two in the second game and her fourth home run of the season. Senior shortstop Sara Schoonaert also rapped out two hits and drove in a pair of runs in the second game, while junior outfielder Stephanie Brown had two hits and two steals, making her a perfect 16-of-16 on the basepaths this season.
Notre Dame (21-12, 5-1 BIG EAST) wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard in the opener, as freshman outfielder Alexandra Kotcheff ripped a one-out double in the first inning and scored one out later on Ruthrauff’s single back through the middle. However, Syracuse came back and matched the Irish tally with one of its own in the bottom of the first, as the Orange capitalized on a two-out fielding error by Laing to push across the equalizer.
SU (20-15, 8-2) moved ahead in the second by cashing in on another two-out opportunity, as Tonye McCorkle dropped a single down the left-field line to score Cassie Morales from third. As it turned out, that would be the last time either side would find the scoreboard in the first game.
The Irish did have their chances to tie the game or take the lead, putting runners on base in four of the final five innings. However, Kotcheff was caught stealing in the third (injuring her hand which caused to her to miss the remainder of the day’s action), Brown struck out looking with Jaquish on second in the fifth, and Notre Dame had two on with one out in the sixth, but couldn’t push them across.
In the seventh, the Irish had one final opportunity to forge ahead, as freshman first baseman Linda Kohan led off with a single, and moved up two bases on a sacrifice bunt by Jaquish and a wild pitch. Hufnagle then walked and Brown packed the sacks when she reached on an error by Syracuse pitcher Erin Downey. But that’s where the rally ended, as freshman Stephanie Mola (Kotcheff’s replacement) struck out looking and senior catcher Mallorie Lenn grounded out to first.
Enjoying just its second win ever against Notre Dame, Syracuse rode that momentum into the nightcap, plating three runs in the first inning. A bases-loaded hit batsman by Irish freshman starter Brittney Bargar forced in the first run, and Morales followed with a two-out, two-run double to give the Orange a 3-0 edge.
Backed into a corner, Notre Dame came back swinging in the third with some two-out thunder of its own. Mola and Brown reached on consecutive infield singles to the left side, and Schoonaert converted with a long two-run double to right center, pulling the Irish within a run.
Notre Dame tied the contest in the fourth, as Hufnagle singled to right with two outs, scoring sophomore pinch runner Brittany Glynn from second. Meanwhile, Bargar kept Syracuse off the scoreboard after the first inning, although she did have to navigate several tricky moments. Twice, the Orange loaded the bases, but in both the second and fourth innings, Bargar bore down and struck out SU catcher Kim Weinstein to squash the threat.
The Irish came through for their rookie hurler in the sixth, scoring twice to take the lead. Ruthrauff led off by curling a home run around the foul pole in left field. Kohan then reached on a two-base error by left fielder McCorkle, and Laing doubled to right center for another tally. However, Downey, who had come on in relief of SU’s second-game starter Alexis Switenko, fought back with a pair of strikeouts and a lineout to stop the bleeding.
That pitching effort would be critical, as Syracuse came up with a two-run rally of its own in the bottom of the sixth. McCorkle made up for her error in the top of the frame with a lead-off single to left, knocking Bargar out of the circle and bringing on Booth in a relief role. The veteran Irish right-hander induced a pair of outs, but Switenko, who came in as the BIG EAST’s leading home run hitter, showed why with a two-run shot, her 12th of the year, to left to knot the score at 5-5.
That’s where the margin stayed until Jaquish’s heroics, despite numerous chances on both sides. The Irish had runners in scoring position in the seventh and eighth innings, while Syracuse loaded the bases in the ninth, but couldn’t come up with the game-ending hit. Once Jaquish put Notre Dame in front with her 10th-inning circuit clout, the Orange tried to even the score, putting two on with two out. But Booth got pinch hitter Amy Kelley to ground out to third, preserving the doubleheader split.
The Irish remain on the road for another BIG EAST twinbill on Sunday, as Notre Dame visits Pittsburgh, which dropped a pair at home to 25th-ranked DePaul on Saturday. First pitch for Sunday’s doubleheader at Pitt’s Trees Field is slated for noon (ET).
— ND —