Softball Back in Action at Hofstra and UConn
3/28/2002 11:58:42 AM | Softball
The Syracuse softball team (10-9) will return to action on Friday, March 29 when it travels to Hofstra. The Orangewomen will face the Pride at 12 p.m. SU continues its weekend road trip on Saturday, March 30 with a 12 p.m. BIG EAST doubleheader at Connecticut.
The Orangewomen have not played since losing to 25th-ranked Wisconsin on March 16. SU had its BIG EAST opener versus Seton Hall scheduled for March 23 wiped out because of weather.
Syracuse has won eight of its last 11 games, including an 8-2 mark before its loss to Wisconsin on March 16. It was the SU's best 10-game stretch since the program started in 2000. The Orangewomen have also already set a team single-season home run record with nine long balls in 19 games this season.
Redshirt sophomore Cheryl Julicher (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville North) has already set the SU single-season record with six home runs this season, breaking her own mark of four set in 2000. Julicher went deep in five consecutive games from March 9-15, becoming the first Syracuse player ever to hit home runs in back-to-back games. She is hitting .305 for the season with a team-leading 17 runs batted in. Half of Julicher's hits this season have gone for extra bases and she leads the team with a .661 slugging percentage.
Junior outfielder Kristen Collins (Stow, Mass./Nashoba Regional) continues to swing the hottest bat of any Orangewoman. Collins is hitting .500 (9-for-18) in her last eight games. For the season, Collins leads the team with 26 hits, a .500 average, five doubles and a .536 on-base percentage. Her 26 hits in 19 games are already more than her total from the entire 2001 campaign.
Freshman pitcher Taylor Petersen (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) is 4-0 on the season, becoming only the second Syracuse pitcher to ever win four consecutive decisions and the first SU hurler to win her first four career starts. Petersen has tossed two complete games and allowed only one earned run and nine hits in her last 14 innings. For the season she leads the team with a 0.77 ERA and has a 4.6 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Junior pitcher Tara DiMaggio (Hopwell Junction, N.Y./John Jay) is 3-1 in her last four starts. DiMaggio threw a five-inning shutout in SU's 8-0 win versus Miami (OH) on March 12 that clinched the doubleheader sweep. She also beat San Jose State, 3-1, with a one-hit complete game. DiMaggio struck out eight and walked only two versus the Spartans. For the season, DiMaggio leads the team with two shutouts and 50.1 innings pitched. She also has a team-best 56 strikeouts this season.
Hofstra is returning from a six-game trip to Hawaii. The Pride went 1-5 on the trip and now has an overall record of 8-19. Heather Brousseau leads the regulars with a .294 batting average, while Stefanie Kenney has been Hofstra's leading run producer. She has two home runs and 13 runs batted in.
Connecticut is 3-16 overall and 0-2 in the BIG EAST. The Huskies were swept by Seton Hall on March 24. Barb Cook leads the team with 16 hits and a .296 batting average. Cook also has the team's lowest ERA at 2.87.
Following their three-game road trip, the Orangewomen will open the home portion of their schedule versus St. John's on Monday, April 1. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 12 p.m.
