A little more than a week ago, Cassie Morales knew she was struggling at the plate.

Last year the designated player hit .318, tying Syracuse’s school record with 55 hits. As of April 8, the junior’s average dropped to .261.

‘I haven’t done terribly this whole season,’ Morales said early in April. ‘My batting average isn’t zero. But I just know I can do a lot better for myself and for what my role is on the team.’

Morales responded to her offensive woes by earning this year’s Big East Player of the Week award. In eight games last week, she hit .393 with three doubles, two home runs and 11 runs batted in overall. In Wednesday’s 6-5 loss to Cornell, she finished 2-for-4, including a solo home run in the fourth inning.

Morales injured her thumb during fall practice on a sliding drill, but said it didn’t affect her batting. SU softball head coach Mary Jo Firnbach and Morales agreed the designated player didn’t swing at the right pitches. Firnbach said that in the past two weeks, that habit has gone away.

‘She’s been more patient now,’ Firnbach said. ‘She’s starting to hit better pitches instead of having the mentality of going out and hitting the first pitch, regardless of where it’s at.’

Second game washed out

Syracuse and Cornell originally scheduled a doubleheader. But when SU pitcher Courtney Mosch slid in front of the mound, officials had no trouble canceling the game.

‘Once a pitcher pulls a groin they may never recover,’ Cornell head coach Dick Blood said. ‘I’m not kidding, either.’

With the heavy downpour and Mosch’s incident, it wasn’t a laughing matter.

Injury update

On Wednesday, Morales switched positions from designated player to right field. In Saturday’s matchup against Fordham, Tiffany Robinson’s right arm was struck by a pitch. Firnbach said Robinson’s arm is swollen and that X-rays were negative.

She sat out against Cornell as Morales took Robinson’s position at right field. Meanwhile, sophomore Jen Elderbloom took the DP position. She batted 0-for-3.

Although Firnbach said the swollen arm is a minor injury, she won’t evaluate Robinson’s status.

‘We’ll see how she responds in practice,’ Firnbach said. ‘I want to see if she can push herself and see where she’s at, and talk to the athletic training staff. Obviously we’re not going to put them in where they’re going to further injure themselves.’

This and That

Syracuse last faced Cornell in the George Mason Patriot Classic March 5 in Fairfax, Va. In that game, pitcher Courtney Mosch threw a no-hitter in the 2-0 shutout … After Wednesday’s win, Cornell leads the series 5-4 … Before Syracuse played Cornell, catcher Jaime Grillo played Cornell shortstop Lauren May in high school. Grillo attended Brentwood High School and May played for Commack High School.

Published on April 19, 2005 at 12:00 pm