Softball Welcomes Griffs In Opener

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – On Tuesday afternoon Syracuse (12-14) will compete from the comforts of its own home when it hosts Canisius (8-9) to the Skytop Softball Stadium for a doubleheader beginning at 3:00 p.m. 'Cuse will put its three-game win streak on the line as it faces one of the hottest teams in the MAAC. The Golden Griffins have won six of their last eight games.

'Cuse Looks To Halt The Surging Griffs
Syracuse bats will be tested by a pair of freshman hurlers who have played a major part in their team's success this season. Madi Weathers and Erika Mackie have combined for an 8-8 record and have posted respectable earned run averages. Weathers leads the staff with a 2.30 ERA while Mackie has a 3.27 ERA. Opposing hitters are hitting .269 and .266 respectively. Jocelyn Cater and the 'Cuse staff will take on a thriving lineup that is currently hitting .313 with three hitters swinging for averages above .400.

Cater has been nothing short of dominant this season, holding batters to a .207 batting average and posting a 2.50 ERA. She's pitched her way out of any situation as well, holding hitters to a .210 batting average with runners in scoring position. Her 9.9 strikeouts per seven innings has her ranked 16th in the nation and her 142 strikeouts overall has her eighth in the country and just 22 behind the leader. The strikeout total is more than four pitching staffs within the ACC (Louisville, North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Virginia) and it falls just short of Boston College and Notre Dame who each have 158 punch outs.

The Marquee Matchup	Starting Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	WHIP	SO	XBH	W/L	ERA
Syracuse	Jocelyn Cater	100.2	74	45	36	56	1.30	142	22	8-9	2.50
Canisius	Madi Weathers	48.2	50	27	16	18	1.41	21	12	4-4	2.30

A Familiar Foe
Syracuse and Canisius have met a total of 17 times since the Orange softball program was born in 2000. Of those 17 meetings, 'Cuse has walked away the victor in 11 of them and has won five of its last eight games against the Golden Griffins.

The Griffs took game one of last year's doubleheader after a costly error prompted a four-run sixth the Orange couldn't recover from. Syracuse fell 4-3 in the game but responded well in the second game as the bats came alive to defeat Canisius, 8-0.

Last Season's Series
Game One	Runs	Hits	Errors
Syracuse	3	5	1
Canisius	4	7	2
Game Two	Runs	Hits	Errors
Syracuse	8	8	1
Canisius	0	4	2

'Cuse Trends

Syracuse's pitching staff gained a boost in Florida with Lindsay Taylor easing her way into game speed with three innings of scoreless ball.
The pitching staff as a whole has a 3.00 earned run average, ranking it fifth in the conference and 76th in the nation. Taylor, Cater and Lindsey Larkin all have ERA's below three with Larkin owning the lowest with a 2.19 ERA in 16 innings. Larkin earned her first win of the season against Hartford and has only allowed runs in two of her eight appearances this season.
Cater leads the staff, keeping opposing teams to three runs or less in 17 of her 20 appearances.
After exploding at the plate in Florida, hitting .381 in eight games with eight hits, three home runs, nine runs batted in and five runs scored, O'Hara now leads 'Cuse with a .296 batting average and 16 runs batted in.
Freshmen, Sammy Fernandez and Maddi Doane lead the team in hits and runs scored. Fernandez has 25 hits and 15 runs scored while Doane has 22 base knocks and has crossed the plate 14 times. Despite having the most at-bats on the team, Fernandez has struck out the fewest among the Orange hitters with nine strikeouts in 87 at-bats.
Corinne Ozanne and Julie Wambold have packed a punch for the Orange in the middle of the lineup. Ozanne is hitting .294 this season and is tied for the conference lead with eight home runs. Her .691 slugging percentage, 18 walks and .461 on base percentage rank her first on the team as well. Wambold is hitting .277 in her senior campaign with a .415 on base percentage. Her 15 runs batted in ties her for the team lead with Ozanne.