The Traveling Orange: SU Is On The Road For The Final Time This Regular-Season

Game Notes (PDF)

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Coming off back-to-back doubleheader sweeps, the Orange softball team (18-25, 9-7 BIG EAST) travels to Canisius (26-11) for a doubleheader on Wednesday at 3 p.m. for an out-of-conference matchup before heading to BIG EAST rival Pittsburgh (29-18, 10-6 BIG EAST) for two on Saturday at noon.

The contest against the Griffins will be the second to last non-conference game of the season for the Orange. SU is 9-18 against non-BIG EAST opponents this season, but has won nine of its last 14. The Orange, who is vying for its fourth consecutive BIG EAST postseason appearance, will try and make a move up the BIG EAST standings with victories in the Steel City. The Panthers are tied for fifth with Louisville with a 10-6 record, while the Orange sits in seventh place with a 9-7 mark.

Junior catcher Amy Kelley, who is the reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week, is in the hunt for a few conference records. She is only two home runs away from tying the BIG EAST games only single-season record for home runs. Entering the game against Pittsburgh, the Bend, Ore. native has seven conference long balls. She is currently in the second spot on the conference's single-season BIG EAST games only slugging percentage (.978).

During games the Orange has won, Kelley is batting .537, while junior shortstop Jamie Kelling is batting .453. Junior first baseman Nicole Miller and junior second baseman Lindsay Wasek are also about the .300 mark with Miler posting a .366 average and Wasek is batting .300. SU's pitching staff has posted a 1.36 ERA in its 18 victories with sophomore pitcher Brittany Gardner standard with a 1.06 mark.

Gardner and senior Chanel Roehner have both posted 10-strikeout performances this season. Gardner struck out a season-high 10 in the Orange's 2-1 victory against Niagara. During the doubleheader against the Purple Eagles she struck out a combined 13 batters. Roehner tallied a career-high 10 strikeouts in SU's 1-0 nine-inning win against St. John's.

Syracuse has won five of the last six outing against Canisius, including a 2-1 victory in the last meeting in 2006. This season, the Griffins are on a five-game winning streak and have won 20 of their last 22 games. As a team, they are batting .297 with a .381 slugging percentage and a .365 on-base percentage. Jenny Maheu leads the team with a .411 average, 53 hits, a .512 slugging percentage and a .480 on-base percentage. Katie Mironto is second with a .369 average and 48 hits, but leads the team with 37 runs and five triples. Juliette Bowers leads the team in the circle with a 14-1 record in 20 appearances. She has struck out 87 batters, limiting them to a .188 average, while Mallory Aldred has a team-low 1.63 ERA, while Lindsay Morris has a team-high 101 strikeouts.

Saturday's doubleheader will be the 15^th and 16^th contest between Syracuse and Pittsburgh and the series stands at a 7-7 tie. The Panthers had a six-game winning streak snapped when they lost to St. John’s, 2-0, during game two of its doubleheader on Sunday. Samantha Card, who was named to the BIG EAST Weekly honor roll, leads the team with a .383 average, 10 home runs, a .703 slugging percentage and a .464 on-base percentage. Jessica Dignon is second with a .374 average, but leads the team with 52 hits, 13 doubles and 34 runs scored. Cory Berliner, who also was named to the BIG EAST honorable mention this week, tied the single-season school record with 15 wins. She owns a 1.76 ERA and has struck out a team-high 135 batters.

Syracuse University Athletics

The Traveling Orange: SU Is On The Road For The Final Time This Regular-Season

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