Cassie Morales knew she was struggling.

The Syracuse softball team’s freshman first baseman entered yesterday’s doubleheader against St. John’s with a .180 average. Morales had also lost her starting designated player spot, which she held since the beginning of the season.

She knew she could do better, so she decided to attend the Orangewomen’s optional practice Saturday. SU head coach Mary Jo Firnbach liked what she saw and used Morales to pinch hit for centerfielder Christina Holowich in the seventh inning of game one.

Morales’ double drove in Alexis Switenko for the winning run and gave the Orangewomen a 3-2 victory over the Red Storm at Skytop Softball Stadium.

Morales nearly led SU to victory again in the second game. But back-to-back seventh-inning home runs by Alisha Argeras and Allina Sainz gave St. John’s a 5-4 win.

‘I knew the situation was there,’ Morales said. ‘I just hit the ball and ran to second. I didn’t realize the game was over until I saw my teammates celebrating.’

Said Firnbach: ‘Cassie’s been struggling, but she’s going to be a great hitter. She’s young and is going to have her ups and downs.’

In game one, the Orangewomen (10-18, 4-6 Big East) trailed early, 2-0, but rallied to tie the game at two in the third inning. Tara DiMaggio pitched a complete-game five-hitter to set the stage for Morales’ heroics.

‘My team helped me a lot,’ DiMaggio said. ‘We knew we had it in hand the whole game.”

The second game was a different story. SU jumped out to the early 3-1 lead, but St. John’s tied the game with one run in the fourth and another in the fifth. Morales’ fifth-inning infield RBI single gave SU a 4-3 lead and appeared to be a follow-up to her game-one hit.

DiMaggio, pitching in relief, appeared to be in control, but the back-to-back home runs gave the Red Storm the split. It marked the first time in DiMaggio’s career that she surrendered back-to-back homers.

‘It’s just one of those things that happen,’ Firnbach said. ‘You just rack your brain over pitching sometimes.’

The biggest problem for the Orangewomen this season has been lack of consistency. They have yet to win more than two consecutive games. The split yesterday, combined with 3-1 and 5-1 losses to Big East-leading Seton Hall on Friday, dropped SU to 1-3 for its season-opening homestand.

‘We just have to keep playing,’ DiMaggio said. ‘We need to keep chasing our goals.’

Firnbach said the Orangewomen need to eliminate mental errors. In the first game, both Red Storm runs came on a ground ball that slipped under DiMaggio’s glove. That play was one of five SU errors in the two games.

‘In the past, we would have folded after that play,’ Firnbach said. ‘That got things going for us. But we could have really used the two wins. Anytime we seem to get something going in this program, we falter.’

Published on April 13, 2003 at 12:00 pm