Syracuse applied relentless, constant pressure to Cornell. And it was more than enough to pull out two easy wins Wednesday against the Big Red.

‘Every inning we were kind of making something happen, so it was nice to see,’ SU head coach Leigh Ross said in a phone interview after the doubleheader.

Syracuse turned in a dominating performance Wednesday afternoon, taking both games against Cornell on the road at Niemond-Robison Field. In both contests, the Orange (26-9, 5-1 Big East) bats and pitching proved to be overwhelming against a lesser Big Red team. In SU’s first game, the Orange won easily with a 10-1 victory. In the second game, Syracuse once again was too much for Cornell (16-15, 7-1 Ivy League), with an 8-1 win. Syracuse extended its win streak to six straight games, and the Orange has now won 16 of its last 17 games.

The Orange looks to keep its win streak going when it plays a doubleheader against Binghamton (23-23, 10-7 America East) Thursday at Skytop Softball Stadium. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.

Right from the start, Syracuse showed its potency at the plate when Stephanie Watts blasted a two-run homer. Syracuse was ahead 2-0 before Cornell recorded an out in the game.

‘It’s nice to go out, beginning of the game with a two-run lead, and that kind of takes pressure off everyone else and lets them relax a little bit,’ Ross said.

Though the Orange bats were held in check over the next three innings and its lead cut to 2-1, Syracuse hammered the Big Red pitching, scoring eight runs in the final two frames for a mercy-rule win.

In game two, Syracuse continued to pile it on in the late innings. Nursing a 3-1 lead entering the top of the seventh, the bats woke up again for a five-run inning with four different SU players driving in at least one run.

‘I think all the way through the order both games, even the kids that came in for at-bats did a great job being aggressive,’ Ross said.

To go along with explosive hitting, the Orange was also backed up by rock-solid pitching. Senior Jenna Caira tossed five innings, allowing just one run in the first game. In the second game, junior Stacy Kuwik was also stellar, hurling four shutout innings along with eight strikeouts.

A hard-throwing Lindsay Taylor finished out both games in the circle, combining to pitch four innings and surrendering just one run.

Along with the Syracuse hitters, all three SU pitchers were clicking.

‘They all did a great job mixing it up and hitting their spots and keeping control of their pitches,’ Ross said.

dgproppe@syr.edu

Published on April 12, 2012 at 12:00 pm