Orange Hosts Virginia Tech In Regular Season Finale

SYRACUSE ORANGE VS. VIRGINIA TECH HOKIES
Game Details	Saturday, April 26 at 1 p.m. \| 3 p.m. Sunday, April 27 at 12 p.m.
Game Coverage	Twitter: @Cuse_Softball Live Updates: In-Game Blog Live Stats \| Video Stream \| Game Changer
SUSB Links	Game Notes \| Roster \| Schedule \| Statstics \| Quick Facts \| Media Guide
VT Links	Roster \| Schedule \| Statstics \| @VT_Softball

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Syracuse softball team looks to close out the regular season at home on a strong note with a three-game series against conference-foe Virginia Tech. The two schools will play a doubleheader on Saturday, April 26 beginning at 1 p.m. and will play the finale on Sunday, April 27 at 12 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT:
The Orange (22-23, 10-11 ACC) won two of its three midweek games, posting two shutouts in the process. Freshman Sydney O'Hara tossed her seventh shutout of the season in a 5-0 win against Niagara. She also had a two-run double. Senior Jasmine Watson hit a homer and had two RBIs and sophomore Corinne Ozanne also went yard. After dropping the first game of a doubleheader to Canisius, 4-3, in which Watson crushed a three-run blast, the Orange bounced back to take the nightcap 8-0, behind a four-hit shutout from freshman Christina Clermont, the first shutout of her career. Watson homered for the third game in a row and Ozanne and junior Julie Wambold also had round-trippers.

SENIOR SUNDAY:
Syracuse will honor three seniors before Sunday's regular season finale. Jasmine Watson, Shirley Daniels and Alexis Partyka are all four-year members of the Orange softball team. Watson holds the all-time home run record with 45 while Daniels set the career stolen bases mark this season and now has 83. Partyka made the first two starts of her career earlier this season.

WATSON MAKES HOME RUN HISTORY, LOOKS FOR MORE:
Senior Jasmine Watson has hit a home run in three straight games, bringing her 2014 total to a career-high 15, just one shy of the SU single-season record, set by Hallie Gibbs in 2011. Earlier this year Watson became the Orange's career home run leader. Her record-breaking 39th homer came on a grand slam in the first game of a doubleheader at Maryland. She followed that up with her 40th career shot in the nightcap, marking the fourth straight game with a homer and six in the last six, dating back to the finale at Virginia. The streak started with a multi-homer effort, the fourth of Watson's career. No other player in Syracuse history has more than three. She currently is tied for 10th in the nation with 15 homers and tied for 10th in the country among active Division I NCAA softball players in career bombs.

SIX ABOVE AVERAGE:
After not having a player hit above .300 last season, six of Syracuse's starters are hitting above that line. Entering the week, only 16 schools have more than six players that are batting .300 or higher.

20-WIN PLATEAU:
Syracuse's 11-1 win at Colgate on April 17 gave the Orange its 20th win of the season, a mark the team has reach in each of the past 11 years and every season under head coach Leigh Ross.

CLERMONT CHEWS UP COLGATE, CANISIUS:
Freshman Christina Clermont had her best collegiate outing against Colgate on April 17, pitching a complete game, four-hitter in Syracuse's 11-1 win against the Raiders. She struck out a career-high 12 batters, besting her old mark of eight k's. Clermont is only one of eight pitchers in Syracuse history to record at least 12 strikeouts in a game. A week later at Canisius, Clermont tossed her second complete game, this time a four-hit shutout.

O'HARA PITCHES SEVENTH SHUTOUT:
For the seventh time, freshman Sydney O'Hara threw a complete-game shutout, which ranks third in a single-season and sixth in a career at SU. In addition to her season-opening no-hitter, O'Hara threw one-hitters at Virginia and Georgia Tech and a pair of six-hit shutouts versus Nebraska-Omaha and Elon. She also pitched a two-hitter against Binghamton and three-hitter versus Niagara. In four of those games, the rookie struck out at least 10 batters, becoming just one of three pitchers in program history to throw at least four shutouts while reaching double-digits in strikeouts.

SCOUTING VIRGINIA TECH:
The Hokies (31-18, 18-7 ACC) enter their final ACC weekend against Syracuse with a tight grip on second place in the league. Virginia Tech had won 13 in a row before losing the final of a three-game series to Maryland last weekend. They own a pair of win against then-ranked No. 22 Notre Dame, sweeping a doubleheader, and a victory against previously-ranked No. 15 South Alabama. Kylie McGoldrick is one of five Hokies batting above .300. She is second on the squad with a .343 average, eight homers and is third with 10 doubles and 24 RBIs. Maggie Tyler and Kelly Heinz split time in the circle. Tyler is 14-7 with a 3.15 ERA and 17 complete games while Heinz is 17-11, holding a 3.52 ERA and 12 complete games. The duo has combined for nine shutouts.

SERIES HISTORY:
Syracuse and Virginia Tech met just two years ago in the first matchup between the two schools as non-conference rivals, a 5-0 Orange win. it was just the first time they met since 2004, when both were members of the BIG EAST. Between 2001 and 2004, SU and the Hokies played a doubleheader each year, with Syracuse sweeping in 2002 and 2004 and going 1-1 in the other two years. All-time, the Orange owns a 7-2 edge in the series.

LOOKING AHEAD:
This weekend, Syracuse hopes to lock up a bid in its first chance to make the ACC Tournament, which is taking place in College Park, Md. from May 8-10. Only the top eight teams make it and the Orange is currently sixth. A win against Virginia Tech or loss by Maryland will clinch a spot.

Syracuse University Athletics

Orange Hosts Virginia Tech In Regular Season Finale

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos