Orange Ready for Nova and Seton Hall

WEEKEND PREVIEW: VILLANOVA WILDCATS & SETON HALL PIRATES
VILLANOVA: Wednesday, April 17 @ 2 p.m. \| SU Softball Stadium SETON HALL: Saturday, April 20 @ noon \| SU Softball Stadium Sunday, April 21 @ noon \| SU Softball Stadium
GAME COVERAGE:	Twitter: @Cuse Live updates: In-Game Blog \| Live Stats
ORANGE QUICK LINKS:	Game Notes \| Roster \| Schedule \| Quick Facts

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse softball team (14-22, 2-7) will take on another set of BIG EAST opponents this week, hosting Villanova in a doubleheader on Wednesday, April 17 and Seton Hall in a three-game series this weekend. The Orange and the Pirates will square off in a doubleheader on Saturday, April 20 at noon, before concluding the series with a game on Sunday, April 21 at noon in the SU Softball Stadium.

WEEK IN REVIEW:
Last week the Orange opened the week with a matchup against Cornell, but the game was rained out in the bottom of the third, following a homer from Mary Dombrowski. SU then hit the road, traveling to Georgetown to take on the Hoyas in a three-game series. Syracuse lost both games in the doubleheader but rebounded to defeat GU, 9-5 on Sunday in extra innings after being down by as many as five runs in the first inning.

OZANNE'S RECORD-SETTING DAY:
Freshman Corinne Ozanne set a new program record against the Hoyas on Sunday, cranking three homeruns to set the single game record for homers in a game. Ozanne's third solo shot of the afternoon came in the ninth inning and broke a tie game, lifting SU ahead,8-5, for an eventual victory. She now has seven homeruns on the year, which ranks second on the team.

21 AND COUNTING:
Junior Shirley Daniels is a base stealing machine this year. The rightfielder is leading the team with 21 stolen bases
which ranks first in the BIG EAST and 23^rd nationally. Her mark this season also moves her into fourth on the SU single season list Daniels has never been caught this year attempting to steal a base, also ranking her first in the conference in attempts.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS:
Villanova will enter the weekend after having played just one non-conference game last week against Penn. The Wildcats shut out Penn 9-0 in five innings before a doubleheader against Monmouth was cancelled due to the weather. With the victory, VU moves to 15-20 overall, remaining 2-9 in the conference.

The Wildcats are batting .263 as a team this year, helped out by Amanda Marquez and Ali Lowe, who are both hitting higher than .300, with Lowe leading with 19 runs scored. Batting .296 is Valerie Ortega, who is leading the team with 34 hits, including seven doubles, a triple and a homerun, adding 18 RBI. Boasting a team-best .457, Beth Smetana has smashed a team-high four homers this season, in addition to five doubles and a triple.

Seton Hall will enter SU Softball Stadium after a non-conference doubleheader against Hofstra on Tuesday. Last weekend, the Pirates lost two-of-three in a three-game series with Pittsburgh, moving to 14-21 overall and 2-9 in the BIG EAST conference.

A solid group of Pirate hitters are contributing to Seton Hall's .276 batting average, featuring four members who are batting above .300. Yasmin Harrell is leading the team with 40 hits, while Danielle Destaso has racked up a team-high six home runs and 27 RBI in 34 hits. Destaso is also leading the team from the mound, posting a 12-10 record so far in 2013. With a 3.32 ERA, Destaso has struck out 131, including 50 who were caught looking, which ranks third in the league.

CHITKOWSKI'S CAREER MARK:
Freshman Danielle Chitkowski earned her first collegiate victory for the Orange in the mound last weekend against Georgetown. Chitkowski pitched eight innings for SU, including two extra innings in the 9-5 win against the Hoyas. She surrendered just five hits, without allowing a single run.

LOOKING AHEAD:
Next week the Orange will hit the road for another set of BIG EAST matchups. Syracuse will travel to Rutgers for a midweek doubleheader on Wednesday at 1 p.m. and then take off for USF, to square off against the Bulls in a three-game series. Syracuse will open the weekend with a doubleheader on Saturday at noon and then return the next day to conclude the series with a game at 11 a.m.

Syracuse University Athletics

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos