Reflecting on this past weekend Seton Hall coach Ray Vander May made a bold statement regarding the Syracuse softball team.

His words are credible, though. Last year, May helped the Pirates earn the Big East Championship and secure a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament.

‘Barring any injuries you’ll see these two teams in the top four in the Big East tournament,’ Vander May said regarding Seton Hall and Syracuse.

The Orange has barely dug into the core of its Big East schedule, but the way things are going, it’s hard not to look ahead. SU won three of its four Big East games this past weekend by sweeping St. John’s, 5-1 and 9-2. The Orange split its series with Seton Hall, shutting out the Pirates 5-0 after falling in the first game, 1-0.

From the weekend of competition, Syracuse improved its Big East record to 4-2 and has won six of its last nine outings.

The Orange plans to carry the success into a doubleheader against Providence on Tuesday at noon at Syracuse Softball Stadium. Officials originally scheduled Syracuse to face the Friars last week, but poor field conditions caused them to postpone it.

Prior to the pair of doubleheaders this weekend, SU struggled at the plate. More specifically, the offensive drought is rooted in Syracuse’s lack of intensity at the beginning of games. But SU had few offensive problems and slow starts this past weekend.

‘You never know why they take a different approach,’ said SU head coach Mary Jo Firnbach. ‘We came out and held our heads and shoulders higher. For whatever reason we felt we were the better team.’

In the St. John’s series, the Orange (16-12, 4-2 Big East) showed that was the case. Syracuse tacked on three first-inning runs. The second game had a similar beginning – SU opened the second inning with two runs.

The Red Storm responded by tying the game in the fifth. An inning later, though, the Orange’s offensive button turned on. Syracuse drove in seven runs to sweep the series.

‘Hitting is contagious,’ Cassie Morales said last week. ‘Usually if we have a low hit game, it is really low. If we get a good couple of hits, we’ll usually get 10 at a time.’

Seton Hall slowed SU’s offensive rush courtesy of southpaw Megan Medley. She teased the Orange batters by hugging the outside corner. And, SU allowed Medley to keep the pitch-batter ratio low.

The Big East Pitcher of the Week would need that low ratio because she also started the second game. Vander May said pitchers Jess Jones and Maura Lund had arm problems, so Medley had to stay on the mound for another outing.

In between games, Firnbach used it to motivate her players for game two. She told them that by starting the same pitcher, the Pirates feel the Orange hitters aren’t good enough.

Medley lasted only three-and-a-half innings as Syracuse belted three home runs, including a Shawna Norris two-run shot. Overall, the Big East Player of the Week finished .500, going 7-for-14 with five RBI for the weekend. On the mound, Orange ace Courtney Mosch took control by limiting the Pirates to four hits. Mosch earned her first shutout victory since throwing a no-hitter March 5 against Cornell. It’s also the lowest hit total Seton Hall has tallied all year.

Firnbach said she didn’t see fatigue settling in on Medley. But Van May sure did.

‘She put her heart out there on the line,’ Van May said. ‘It was more or less a gut performance. She had been sore and she was not at her best.’

Published on April 10, 2005 at 12:00 pm