Syracuse University
Tennessee State (University of Central Florida Tournament)
SU Scares off Tigers in Five Innings
3/1/2009 12:13:18 PM | Softball
Boxscore vs. Tennessee State
ORLANDO, Fla. -- In the final day of the UCF Invitational, Syracuse (9-4) secured an 11-0 victory against Tennessee State in five innings. It was SU's largest margin of victory since April 12, 2007 when the Orange registered a 13-0 win against Niagara. Senior Lindsay Wasek recorded her best performance of the season thus far. She finished the day 2-for-3 with three RBI and a home run.
Other top performers included freshman Stephanie Watts and sophomore Hallie Gibbs. Watts finished 2-for-4 with a triple, while Gibbs was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI. Senior Amy Kelley closed out the day 1-for-2 with three runs and a triple, while freshman Emily Casey was 1-for-3 with a double, two runs and two RBI.
Sophomore ace Angie Sagnelli set the tone in the circle for the Orange. She pitched all five innings allowing only two hits and throwing four strikeouts.
After a scoreless first inning, the Orange scored eight of its 11 runs in the top of the second. Kelley was walked to start the inning and advanced to third on a base hit from freshman Gaby Torzilli. Casey reached on a fielding error by Tiger shortstop Bridget Metzger and advanced to second scoring Kelley and Torzilli. Wasek was up next for the Orange. She pounded her first home run of the season to centerfield scoring Casey and putting Syracuse up 4-0.
The Orange pressure didn't let up as the inning continued on. Watts scored next for Syracuse. After singling down the right field line, she stole second and headed home on a single from senior Jamie Kelling. Kelling scored next on a single from Gibbs, and a triple from Kelley sent Gibbs in for the score soon after. Freshman Kelly Saco reached first after hitting a fly ball to left field which was dropped allowing Kelley to reach home.
Sagnelli threw two strikeouts in the bottom of the second, and despite a single from Royesha Goodman, the Tigers headed to defense on a ground out from Jalisa Bradley.
Syracuse added another run in the top of the third to increase its advantage to 9-0. Casey powered a double to right center field and scored on a single from Wasek.
Kelley and Gibbs scored the final two runs in the top of the fourth. Gibbs opened the inning with a single to shortstop and advanced to second after Kelley was walked. A wild pitch from Tiger relief pitcher Susie Burke advanced Gibbs to third and Kelley to second. A base hit from freshman Leah Porter scored Gibbs and Kelley tallied a run courtesy of a field error by the Tennessee State shortstop.
Tennessee State was unable to score any runs in the fourth or fifth. Melanie Cruz registered Tennessee State's second hit of the game in the bottom of the fifth, but Sagnelli threw a ground out to Christy Hill to end the game.
Syracuse finished the invitational 4-1 with wins against Maine (3-01), UCF (3-2) and Eastern Michigan (6-3). The Orange will be back in action this coming weekend in California. SU takes on Cal State Fullerton Friday, March 6 before competing in the Long Beach State Tournament March 7-8.
