Orange Crushes Hokies, 7-3 On Senior Day

Sunday, April 27

Syracuse, NY

12 pm

Syracuse University

24-24, 12-12

Virginia Tech

32-20, 19-9

Virginia Tech

Syracuse

4/27/2014 2:56:00 PM | Softball

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – On senior day in front of family and friends at the SU Softball Stadium, Syracuse used a six-run inning to defeat Virginia Tech 7-3 on Sunday, April 27 and take the series and close out the regular season.

The Orange (24-24, 12-12 ACC) will now await its seeding the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, but is locked into either the sixth or seventh seed. The tournament begins Thursday, May 8. Virginia Tech (32-20, 19-9 ACC) will enter the ACC Tournament as either the second or third seed.

Seniors Jasmine Watson and Shirley Daniels both had a big hand in leading SU to victory in their last home games. Watson finished with just one hit, but it was a grand slam in the third inning to ignite the Orange offense. It was her 16th homer of the season, which ties the program single-season record set by Hallie Gibbs in 2011. She also upped her season total in runs batted in to 44, which is tied for second in a single-season. Daniels was one of two players to record multi-hit games, going 2-for-4 with a run scored.

One day removed from playing hero in Syracuse's walk-off win in the opener, sophomore Danielle Chitkowski was a perfect 3-for-3 with a double, and RBI and one run scored. Junior Julie Wambold has had an RBI and scored a run.

Freshman pitcher Sydney O'Hara (16-11) tossed her 15th complete game of the season, allowing just three runs on three hits. It was her seventh complete game performance of the season in which she allowed three hits or less.

O'Hara struggled to find control early, walking the bases loaded in the first inning. She would eventually settle down and pitched her way out of the two-out jam, striking out Amanda Ake on three straight pitches.

Locked in a scoreless tie entering the bottom of the third, it was Syracuse's turn to load the bases. But unlike its counterparts, the Orange was able to take advantage of the situation – and more, exploding for six runs on four hits.

Daniels singled to start things off and freshman Nicole Lundstrom and sophomore Corinne Ozanne got on base by way of an error and hit by pitch, respectively. That put a runner on every base for Watson, who clobbered a pitch over the right field fence for her second grand slam of the season to give the Orange a 4-0 lead.

SU wasn't done there though, as Wambold reached on an error and moved up to second on a ground out to continue the inning. Chitkowski traded places with Wambold, driving her in on a double, then came around to score on sophomore Riley Johnson's RBI single to center that increased the margin to 6-0.

O'Hara lost her no-hit bid and shutout with two outs in the fifth inning, yielding a solo shot to Lauren Gaskill. Up to that point, O'Hara had retired the last 10 batters in a row. Virginia Tech cut its deficit to 6-3 the following inning on a two-out, two-run homer by Ake, after Logan Spaw walked to extend the frame.

In the home half of the sixth, Wambold plated an insurance run for the Orange, bringing in pinch runner freshman Alyssa Dewes who replaced Ozanne after she reached base for the third time in the day.