Courtney Mosch remembers last year’s game against Cornell vividly. Syracuse took the field with a comfortable two-run lead.

But before she knew it, Cornell gave her a scare by loading up the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning. Melissa Heintz of Cornell plated three runs on one swing of the bat to recapture the lead and the game.

Fast forward to this year and things are different. Much different.

Instead of being trapped in a jam and blowing a lead late in the game, Mosch secured the win. In the opening contest of the George Mason Patriot Classic, the sophomore pitcher threw a no-hitter in a 2-0 victory over the Big Red. It was the first time an SU pitcher hurled a no-hitter in seven innings. Tara DiMaggio threw a five-inning no hitter in a victory over Buffalo in 2000.

The Orange reached perfection, winning all four of its games over the weekend in Fairfax, Va. Besides the no-hitter, SU prevailed over George Mason twice – 12-4 and 3-2 – and against Cornell again, 10-2. The weekend sweep furthered SU’s winning streak to a school- record seven games and improved its mark to 8-2.

‘That was still in the back of my mind,’ Mosch said of last year’s contest. ‘I really wanted to beat them this year because we always have a problem with them. I wasn’t really thinking about the no-hitter. I was just trying not to give up anything huge.’

The only thing Mosch gave up was a walk, leaving her a batter shy of a perfect game. She held the otherwise strong Cornell hitters off-balance by fanning six batters and giving the rest of the Cornell offense fits.

Mosch consistently hugged the outside corners, leaving the Big Red in a lose-lose situation. Either the Cornell batter had to accept a low quality hit or she would have to take the strike.

‘The defense was behind her, senior left fielder Tanya Rose said. ‘When they actually did hit the ball we made the plays to contribute.’

Prior to last weekend, Syracuse played at the Sunshine State Tournament in Tallahassee, Fla., on Feb. 20. Syracuse softball coach Mary Jo Firnbach worried two weeks without a game may cause the players to lose focus.

So Firnbach set up live game situations in practice last week to keep the intensity. This helped because the Carrier Dome practices don’t provide a true softball field.

The pitchers, including Mosch, threw live pitches to keep their arms ready. The batters faced them, rather than the batting cage, to see the ball’s movement and to see the various pitches they might face in a game.

‘We don’t have players in the position where we throw meat balls over the plate because it doesn’t do anything for anyone,’ Firnbach said.

In Mosch’s case, the live balls helped her in several ways. As a pitcher it kept her competitive juices alive. At the plate, she looked at her fellow pitchers in a different light. As the No. 5 batter in the lineup, Mosch studied their pitching techniques so she’d be better prepared in the batter’s box. She also studied her teammate’s pitches, helping her mix her own pitches.

‘You have to challenge yourself that much more every day and get that much more competitive,’ Mosch said of the live-game situations. ‘Especially with your teammates, you don’t want to get a hit off of you.’

So was Mosch also able to throw a no-hitter against her teammates?

‘On a good day I think I have,’ she said.

Published on March 7, 2005 at 12:00 pm