At least for one day, the capital of America’s softball map was Syracuse.

The Orange defeated the defending national champions and third-ranked UCLA, 2-1, on Sunday. After deservedly garnering national attention, SU has hopes of knocking off more ranked opponents this weekend at the Sunshine State Tournament in Tallahassee, Fla., keeping the attention in Central New York.

While the Orange is focused on the weekend’s event, they can’t help but enjoy Sunday’s win.

‘I can’t really put it into words,’ said head coach Mary Jo Firnbach. ‘It’s the biggest victory in this program’s history. It’s probably the biggest victory in my history of coaching. Anytime you beat a top three team in that nature, especially the first time out, it’s a huge victory.’

Softball fans around the country are noticing the Orange. Syracuse was listed among others receiving votes in both the ESPN.com/USA Softball Collegiate Top 25 and the USA Today/NFCA Top 25.

‘It’s a big factor for the program,’ Firnbach said. ‘Everybody knows when a top three, top five, top ten team loses. It’s basically national press. I received a number of phone calls from people, a number of e-mails from people – people I haven’t heard from in years – saying I heard that you won, wanting details. Everyone is proud of the program. It’s big news.’

‘Most people are like ‘Syracuse? Syracuse who?” senior outfielder Tanya Rose said. ‘Hopefully it snowballs into the weekend and we can keep it coming.’

In order to do so, the Orange is going to need more performances like Courtney Mosch’s on Sunday. The sophomore pitched four innings, only allowing four hits and one run while striking out three Bruins. She also had the play of the day, a two-run home run that proved to be all the offense SU needed.

‘It still hasn’t hit me yet,’ Mosch said of her performance and of the whole afternoon. ‘(The win) was huge. It was the only game we got to play, and we used what we had and came out and beat the defending national champions. It was an unreal experience.’

The experience started off a rough for Mosch; she allowed a home run to UCLA’s lead off hitter, Caitlyn Benyi. Mosch gathered herself and pitched a gem, even striking out Benyi the next time she came to the plate.

‘As funny as it sounds, it actually relaxed me,’ Mosch said of the lead-off home run. ‘When you give up a home run to the first batter, it’s almost like nothing worse can happen.’

‘You never how your team is going to react,’ Firnbach said. ‘In the past it might have really been shocking for the girls, but Courtney Mosch came right back, shook it off, and didn’t seem rattled at all. We were behind and came back, and then held a lead. It was a total team effort.’

Freshman Erin Downey took the mound after Mosch and pitched three innings of one-hit ball. For Downey, the beginner’s nerves only lasted so long until she realized she was pitching against the defending champions.

‘The first batter I was so nervous,’ Downey said. ‘I’m not taking any opponent lightly, but playing the number three team in country is a tough way to start.’

Downey rose to the occasion brilliantly. So did all the Orange. Now, the focus is on nationally-ranked Florida State, along with South Carolina and Southeastern Louisiana. All three are on the schedule this weekend.

‘We’re not overconfident,’ Firnbach said. ‘They’re very excited, and I’m very excited for the girls. But it shows the team how important it is for everything to be working. There’s going to be more great competition. We’re going to have to regroup and get ready to play.’

According to Mosch, the recipe for success is not complicated.

‘We have to prepare the same way we did for UCLA,’ Mosch said. ‘We just have to get up and make sure everyone is on the same page and beat more ranked teams. That way, we become ranked.’

Published on February 17, 2005 at 12:00 pm