Feb. 19, 2005
Tallahassee, Fla. – Gamecock softball fell to 7-5 on the season as they lost 2-1 to the Syracuse Orange Saturday morning at the Sunshine Tournament. USC will now face Southeastern Louisiana at 4:30 p.m. (ET) in an elimination game. Melanie Henkes took the loss for USC and fell to 4-2 while Erin Downey improved to 1-1.
Henkes pitched six innings and gave up two runs on five hits while Downey pitched 6.2 innings and gave up one run on three hits. Meghan Cornett, Becky Martinez and Stefanie Norman recorded the hits for USC. Norman recorded her first extra-base hit of her career and her drove in her first RBI as she doubled in the seventh inning to score Martinez for the lone USC run. Martinez hit a one out single to left field in the seventh to provide USC a chance to score. The hit was Carolina’s second of the game.
The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when the Orange’s Cassie Morales scored on an RBI triple by Alexis Switenko. Syracuse scored again in the fifth as Shawna Norris, who led off the inning with a single, scored on a passed ball from third and went up 2-0.
In the seventh, USC had cut the lead in half with the two-out double by Norman and had a runner at second. Kristi Hutchins then came in to pinch hit for Whitney Wierzbicki and was able to draw a walk to put the winning run at first. The Orange then brought in Courtney Mosch to pitch for Downey. USC’s Jessica Josker was the only batter Mosch faced as Josker flew out to left field to end the game. Mosch picked up her first save of the season.
With the loss, USC will now face Southeastern Louisiana Saturday afternoon to try and advance to the championship game Sunday morning.
Team 123 456 7 R H E
USC 000 000 1 1 3 1
SYR 000 110 X 2 5 2
WP: Downey (1-1)
LP: Henkes (4-2)
Save: Mosch (1)
