SU Splits Doubleheader at Notre Dame

Saturday, April 14

South Bend, Ind.

12:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

Notre Dame

Grant was 3-for-4 in game two with three RBI's

Photo by: Jason Wise

4/14/2012 4:53:34 PM | Softball

Game One | Game Two | Season Statistics

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Syracuse University softball team (29-10, 6-2) lost the first game 4-3 and won the second game 8-2 of a doubleheader with Notre Dame (21-12, 5-2) on Saturday afternoon at Melissa Cook Stadium.

The Orange participated in Notre Dame's “Strike Out Cancer” to help support the Irish's head coach's daughter who is battling leukemia. Syracuse wore all orange for the first time ever, while Notre Dame was wearing white uniforms with orange trim. All the money raised today will be donated to the South Bend Memorial Hospital, and Syracuse will be selling its jersey's at SU's next home game. That money will be donated to the hospital as well.

Lisaira Daniels and Veronica Grant each went 4-for-7 on the day, while Daniels batted in four runs and Grant drove in three. Syracuse out-hit Notre Dame in both games and compiled 16 hits compared to 10 for the Irish.

Game One: Notre Dame 4, Syracuse 3
Costly errors in the bottom of the seventh inning allowed Notre Dame to come from behind for a 4-3 walk-off victory in the first game of the day.

The Orange built an early lead as Stephanie Watts cranked her fourth home run of the season over the left center field fence in her first at bat. Her homer also scored L. Daniels who led off the game with a single.

The Irish answered with two runs in the bottom of the first, and the score remained tied until L. Daniels smacked her eighth round-tripper of the season in the top of the third. It was a solo shot to center field and put Syracuse in front 3-2.

Notre Dame tied up the game in the home half of the sixth inning with a solo home run by Katey Haus, and the Orange was unable to score in the top of the seventh as ND came to bat in the bottom of the seventh with the game knotted at three.

ND's leadoff batter Alexa Maldonado reached on a hard-hit grounder to short which Morgan Nandin was unable to field cleanly. The next batter Kelsey Thornton reached on a fielder's choice and Maldonado was safe at second via a throwing error by Carey-Leigh Thomas.

After a sac bunt moved the runners over, Maldonado was thrown out at home for the second out of the inning. Thornton, who advanced to third on the play-at-the-plate, scored during the next at bat on a wild pitch by Jenna Caira for the decisive run.

Caira went 6.2 innings, allowing four hits while striking out six and walking three. Her 15 game winning-streak was snapped in the loss and she is now 18-4 on the season.

Game Two: Syracuse 8, Notre Dame 2
The Orange scored two runs in the second, fourth, fifth and seventh innings, while Stacy Kuwik pitched a complete game to help Syracuse defeat Notre Dame 8-2 in game two of the Saturday doubleheader.

Syracuse manufactured two runs in top of the second, which was started with a lead-off walk by Julie Wambold. Shirley Daniels then laid down a bunt and reached second on a throwing error by pitcher Brittany O'Donnell. Grant brought Wambold in with an RBI groundout, and L. Daniels followed that up with a sac fly that scored S. Daniels.

Notre Dame evened the game in the bottom of the second, but Syracuse scored the final six runs of the game, all coming on two-run doubles. In the fourth inning, L. Daniels' two-bagger scored Nandin and Grant, while Wambold plated Thomas and Watts in the fifth with her double. Grant then tacked on two more runs in the seventh with a double that scored S. Daniels and Wambold.

Kuwik was once again a force in the circle, tossing a complete game while allowing six hits with six K's and zero earned runs. She is 3-0 this week and has struck out 43 batters in her last four starts. The win improved her record to 9-3.

Syracuse and Notre Dame play the rubber match of the three game series tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m. A live video stream along with live stats and a live blog will be available for the game.