Just call Erin Downey a rebel with a cause.

The Syracuse freshman softball pitcher intimidates batters with her rise ball and her foray of dyed hair colors and Mohawk. When SU pitching coach Jodie Cox first met Downey, she wore black pitch-knit tights under rolled up jeans with bright red shoes and bright red lipstick.

‘I was thinking, ‘oh my god, this girl is so cool,” Cox said. ‘That’s just her. She just does not care. There could be a tornado going through and she wouldn’t even realize it. She’s just so focused.’

At 5-1 in her last six games with a 1.50 ERA, Downey hopes to keep her focus on the mound when the Orange faces a pair of Big East opponents this weekend at Syracuse Softball Stadium. A Villanova doubleheader starts at 4 p.m. Friday, while the Rutgers matchup begins at noon Sunday.

Downey won’t be seen with a Mohawk this weekend, though. After sporting the hairstyle all season, she doesn’t want to be predictable.

‘I like to keep people off-guard,’ Downey said. ‘People kind of expect it now.’

She won’t conform to people’s expectations. She’s a rebel, alright. But not the stereotypical rebel who walks around with a chip on her shoulder in contempt of the world. Downey’s the exact opposite. She’s friendly and laughs whole heartedly at unexpected moments.

Downey does what she wants to do. Ever since her junior year in high school, the Orange ace has sported a different array of hair colors. This year is the first year for the Mohawk. The natural blond has displayed various colors including dark black mixed with blond, hot pink, bleached blond with streaks of blue and white with blue tips. The list goes on forever. She won’t wear orange, even though it’s part of Syracuse’s team colors and is the school name.

She’ll also go against the norm by applying dark makeup to intimidate batters. As the spring blossoms and teammates hit the tanning salons, Downey uses powder to hide any color. She even wore a black, long-sleeve shirt underneath her jersey during Tuesday’s practice to keep her arms from darkening.

‘She made a commitment not to want to fall into the pack,’ said her father, Tom Downey. ‘She is also not the person who parties every weekend. Quite honestly she lost a few friends in high school because she got tired of watching friends get drunk, get stoned and act stupid.’

So instead, Downey spends the little free time she has hanging out with her best guy friends in Shaw Hall. They’ll play old school video games nonstop. Since she doesn’t know the controls to NBA Live, she’ll watch and poke fun at her friends during the marathons. When they play Mortal Kombat, Downey randomly pushes buttons, hoping she performs a good move.

A punk rock enthusiast, Downey attended The Matches concert in New York City Tuesday. But the punk rock image doesn’t fit her besides the music and clothing choices.

‘She has very high goals, academically and athletically,’ said SU softball head coach Mary Jo Firnbach. ‘That separates her from other people who are rebellious that really don’t have any goals.’

A biology major, Downey plans to attend graduate school to become a pediatric nurse. And there is no time to mess around. After practicing with the softball team and lifting weights, Downey goes to the study tables at Manley Field House until 9 p.m. When she returns to her dorm, Downey studies and completes homework until 3:30 a.m. for biology, chemistry, sociology, nutrition and math. At 8:30 a.m. she’ll start the next day.

‘On weekends, I also try to get up relatively early,’ Downey said. ‘I want my whole internal clock to keep going. If I sleep in on weekends, it makes me more tired when I don’t get enough sleep on weekdays.’

She’s never lost her edge, either. Not with her work ethic, her personality or her performance on the mound. Downey helped the Orange upset UCLA, the defending national champion, 2-1, earlier in the season.

Last week against Providence, she shut out the Friars 8-0 in five innings. In game two of the doubleheader, Orange pitcher Courtney Mosch found herself in a hole as Syracuse trailed 4-0 in the second inning. Downey came in relief, helping the Orange come back to win, 12-4, in six innings.

A native of San Rafael, Calif., Downey played softball year round growing up. In between seasons with San Rafael, Downey traveled in the summer with the San Jose Strikkers’ 18-under gold team. All that competition built her endurance, something that was evident in the doubleheader performance against Providence.

But her dad, Tom, is the source of Erin’s work ethic. He coached her at San Rafael. Before she joined the team, the Lady Dawgs failed to make the playoffs. By the end of her senior year, San Rafael earned the Class 2A California Interscholastic Federation North Coast Section championship.

‘He is the reason I’m here,’ Downey said of her father. ‘He always pushed me. He never pushed me to the point where I didn’t like playing anymore. But he pushed me to the point where I still loved it. He made me practice.’

That showed in Wednesday’s outing against Cornell. Downey fell victim to Big Red slugger Lauren May, who blasted two home runs. But Downey hung in the game, placing her pitches well.

When she arrived at SU, Cox helped Downey develop a drop ball. Her out pitch is still her rise ball, but Cox has taught Downey to throw a variety of pitches in various locations. With a 13-6 record, she’s struck out 136 batters.

‘(Downey’s) rubbed off on me more,’ Mosch said. ‘She brings that West Coast mentality where ‘I’ll beat the crap out of you and I’m not afraid to pitch.’ Erin knows she’s good and has that presence on the mound to show it.’

Published on April 21, 2005 at 12:00 pm