Softball Looks To Build Off Success From 2014
5/30/2014 1:53:00 PM | Softball
Final Game Notes | Final Statistics
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Returning all but three players next season, the Syracuse softball team is poised to make a run in 2015 after finishing sixth in its first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference and earning a berth into the ACC Championship.
The Orange played a demanding schedule in 2014, one featuring 13 teams that qualified for the NCAA tournament, including two which are competing in the Women's College World Series – Oklahoma and Florida State.
Syracuse opened the campaign at South Alabama, posting a pair of promising wins, getting a no-hitter from freshman Sydney O'Hara in her collegiate debut and a walk-off win against No. 21/25 UAB. However over the next two tournaments, the Orange would go 3-7, with six of the seven losses coming to tournament teams.
Looking to right the ship in its inaugural ACC series at North Carolina, Syracuse was swept in the three-game series, dropping to 5-13 on the season. But the Orange turned things around after that, winning seven of its next eight games, including five in a row in conference play – taking series wins against Virginia and Georgia Tech.
After spending the first two months on the road, Syracuse finally returned to campus for its home opener against NC State. Despite losing both games, the Orange went on to grab victories in five straight and in seven of eight again, to push its record above .500 (20-19) for the first time since Feb. 21. SU ended the regular season on a high-note, going 4-2 in the final week, with a pair of wins against Virginia Tech, the second-seeded team in the ACC at the time.
Overall, the Orange finished the season winning 19 of its final 30 while going 12-9 in ACC contests.
Syracuse placed three players on the All-ACC Team while a fourth earned all-conference recognition from College Sports Madness.
O'Hara was just one of two freshmen to make the first team in 2014. A two-time ACC Player of the Week and National Player of the Week on March 18, O'Hara was also the first Orange freshman to be named to the All-Region First Team since 2005. She played both ways, batting .333 with 49 hits and 14 doubles, which all ranked in the top three on the team. O'Hara also started a team-high 27 games, posting a 16-12 record with a 3.83 earned run average, 15 complete games and seven shutouts, good for 36th nationally and third in a single season at SU.
A pair of seniors wrapped up their illustrious careers this year with 'Cuse by earning All-ACC Third Team honors and re-writing the record books at Syracuse.
Jasmine Watson left her mark by becoming the all-time home run queen with 46 career blasts and ranks second with 144 runs batted in and a .553 slugging percentage for a career. In one of the best offensive seasons ever by a Syracuse player, Watson's, who also was honored as All-Region First Team, tied the single-season record with 16 homers and finished with 44 RBIs, which is second-most in a season at SU, all while batting a career-high .329.
Shirley Daniels joined Watson on the Third Team and departs Syracuse as the all-time stolen bases leader, swiping the record from her older sister Lisaira. Shirley passed the record midway through the season and finished with 85 steals. After setting the single-season mark just last year, Daniels stole 24 more bases in 2014 and ranks 37th in the country in stolen bases per game.
The final Orange woman to be recognized in the postseason was Corinne Ozanne, who will be one of the captains in 2015. She eluded the "sophomore slump" by raising her numbers in nearly every offensive category this season. Ozanne posted a team-best .351 batting average, which ranks as the eighth-highest in school history. The shortstop became just the 15th player in a SU uniform to reach the 50-hit plateau in a season and is the fastest player in Syracuse history to hit 20 homers, taking just 93 games to accomplish the feat and eclipsing the former record of 102.
Syracuse has plenty of reasons to be optimistic for next year, bringing back the bulk of its lineup. Returning to the infield will be Julie Wambold and Danielle Chitkowski, while a trio of outfielders, Alyssa Dewes, Mary Dombrowski and Riley Johnson, got experience under their belts.
Wambold, the other captain for 2015, registered career highs of a .309 batting average, 42 hits and 10 doubles. Chitkowski saw a surge in her production as the season came to a close, batting .500 in her final seven games to raise her average to .225 on the year, nearly 75 points higher than a year earlier. She also was second on the squad with 11 doubles.
Dewes came on strong a month into the season and earned a starting spot. She hit .307 with four homers, seven doubles and 19 RBIs, providing a spark at the bottom of the batting order. Dombrowski had a breakout season, going off for career highs in hits and batting average in her second season as a full-time starter, but first in the outfield. Before suffering an injury that sidelined her for nearly a month, Johnson was on fire, hitting .347 with her first career homer and six RBIs in a nine-game span.
The pitching staff figures to be its deepest is years with all six players returning who saw time in the circle. In addition to O'Hara, Christina Clermont received valuable experience and racked up five wins in the circle while Lindsey Larkin held down the fort in late-game situations, tallying two wins in 17 appearances. Veteran Lindsay Taylor will look to bounce back from an injury that cut her season short in February and Jocelyn Cater only scratched the surface, making her first appearance in a Syracuse uniform at the ACC Championship.
With the core of its roster coming back in 2015, expect the Orange to make a deep run in the ACC Championship and knock at the door for a return trip to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Returning all but three players next season, the Syracuse softball team is poised to make a run in 2015 after finishing sixth in its first season in the Atlantic Coast Conference and earning a berth into the ACC Championship.
The Orange played a demanding schedule in 2014, one featuring 13 teams that qualified for the NCAA tournament, including two which are competing in the Women's College World Series – Oklahoma and Florida State.
Syracuse opened the campaign at South Alabama, posting a pair of promising wins, getting a no-hitter from freshman Sydney O'Hara in her collegiate debut and a walk-off win against No. 21/25 UAB. However over the next two tournaments, the Orange would go 3-7, with six of the seven losses coming to tournament teams.
Looking to right the ship in its inaugural ACC series at North Carolina, Syracuse was swept in the three-game series, dropping to 5-13 on the season. But the Orange turned things around after that, winning seven of its next eight games, including five in a row in conference play – taking series wins against Virginia and Georgia Tech.
After spending the first two months on the road, Syracuse finally returned to campus for its home opener against NC State. Despite losing both games, the Orange went on to grab victories in five straight and in seven of eight again, to push its record above .500 (20-19) for the first time since Feb. 21. SU ended the regular season on a high-note, going 4-2 in the final week, with a pair of wins against Virginia Tech, the second-seeded team in the ACC at the time.
Overall, the Orange finished the season winning 19 of its final 30 while going 12-9 in ACC contests.
Syracuse placed three players on the All-ACC Team while a fourth earned all-conference recognition from College Sports Madness.
O'Hara was just one of two freshmen to make the first team in 2014. A two-time ACC Player of the Week and National Player of the Week on March 18, O'Hara was also the first Orange freshman to be named to the All-Region First Team since 2005. She played both ways, batting .333 with 49 hits and 14 doubles, which all ranked in the top three on the team. O'Hara also started a team-high 27 games, posting a 16-12 record with a 3.83 earned run average, 15 complete games and seven shutouts, good for 36th nationally and third in a single season at SU.
A pair of seniors wrapped up their illustrious careers this year with 'Cuse by earning All-ACC Third Team honors and re-writing the record books at Syracuse.
Jasmine Watson left her mark by becoming the all-time home run queen with 46 career blasts and ranks second with 144 runs batted in and a .553 slugging percentage for a career. In one of the best offensive seasons ever by a Syracuse player, Watson's, who also was honored as All-Region First Team, tied the single-season record with 16 homers and finished with 44 RBIs, which is second-most in a season at SU, all while batting a career-high .329.
Shirley Daniels joined Watson on the Third Team and departs Syracuse as the all-time stolen bases leader, swiping the record from her older sister Lisaira. Shirley passed the record midway through the season and finished with 85 steals. After setting the single-season mark just last year, Daniels stole 24 more bases in 2014 and ranks 37th in the country in stolen bases per game.
The final Orange woman to be recognized in the postseason was Corinne Ozanne, who will be one of the captains in 2015. She eluded the "sophomore slump" by raising her numbers in nearly every offensive category this season. Ozanne posted a team-best .351 batting average, which ranks as the eighth-highest in school history. The shortstop became just the 15th player in a SU uniform to reach the 50-hit plateau in a season and is the fastest player in Syracuse history to hit 20 homers, taking just 93 games to accomplish the feat and eclipsing the former record of 102.
Syracuse has plenty of reasons to be optimistic for next year, bringing back the bulk of its lineup. Returning to the infield will be Julie Wambold and Danielle Chitkowski, while a trio of outfielders, Alyssa Dewes, Mary Dombrowski and Riley Johnson, got experience under their belts.
Wambold, the other captain for 2015, registered career highs of a .309 batting average, 42 hits and 10 doubles. Chitkowski saw a surge in her production as the season came to a close, batting .500 in her final seven games to raise her average to .225 on the year, nearly 75 points higher than a year earlier. She also was second on the squad with 11 doubles.
Dewes came on strong a month into the season and earned a starting spot. She hit .307 with four homers, seven doubles and 19 RBIs, providing a spark at the bottom of the batting order. Dombrowski had a breakout season, going off for career highs in hits and batting average in her second season as a full-time starter, but first in the outfield. Before suffering an injury that sidelined her for nearly a month, Johnson was on fire, hitting .347 with her first career homer and six RBIs in a nine-game span.
The pitching staff figures to be its deepest is years with all six players returning who saw time in the circle. In addition to O'Hara, Christina Clermont received valuable experience and racked up five wins in the circle while Lindsey Larkin held down the fort in late-game situations, tallying two wins in 17 appearances. Veteran Lindsay Taylor will look to bounce back from an injury that cut her season short in February and Jocelyn Cater only scratched the surface, making her first appearance in a Syracuse uniform at the ACC Championship.
With the core of its roster coming back in 2015, expect the Orange to make a deep run in the ACC Championship and knock at the door for a return trip to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012
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