'Cuse Downs #19 Notre Dame, 5-2

Friday, March 25

3:30 PM

Syracuse University

15-14, 0

Notre Dame

23-4, 0

Notre Dame

Syracuse

3/25/2016 7:14:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

Orange take down first ranked opponent since the 2014 season

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Syracuse softball team broke a 19-game Notre Dame winning streak on Friday afternoon, defeating the No. 19 Irish 5-2 at Skytop Stadium. Two runs in the bottom of the first and third innings and a run in the fifth were enough to take down a Notre Dame squad that hadn't lost since the second week of the season (Feb. 19).

The Orange (15-14, 2-5 ACC) held two of the top five hitters in the ACC to just one hit apiece on the day, while only allowing the Irish (23-4, 3-1 ACC) two runs, a team that averages an ACC-best 7.81 runs per game.

With the game tied at two runs each in the bottom of the third, freshman Alicia Hansen powered her first career home run over the right center field wall with fellow freshman Hannah Dossett on base, putting the Orange at a 4-2 advantage with two outs on the board.

Syracuse topped it off in the bottom of the fifth, as a Dossett double towards the right field wall sent pinch runner Aliyah Wade to home plate, sealing a 5-2 victory.

The Orange started things off right away in the bottom of the first, as senior Corinne Ozanne reached first and second bases off of a hit by pitch and a wild pitch. With junior Sydney O'Hara at the plate in the next at bat, a throwing error by the Irish at third base sent Ozanne to home plate while O'Hara safely reached first.

Sophomore Rachel Burkhardt kept things going in the subsequent at bat with an RBI single through the right side that welcomed O'Hara home, putting two runs on the board early for the Orange.

Notre Dame answered back in the top of the third, after a lead-off double to left center and a base hit put runners on first and third. After the runner on first stole second, a double by Irish Melissa Rochford sent the two runners on base home, knotting the game up at two apiece.

The Orange allowed the Irish just three more hits and no runs the rest of the way, while tacking on three more runs of their own.

Burkhardt was responsible for two of the four total Orange hits on the day, while Dossett and Hansen notched the other two. Sophomore pitcher AnnaMarie Gatti tossed a full seven innings, allowing two runs off of seven hits while striking out two batters.

The Orange and the Irish match up again tomorrow, Mar. 26, in a doubleheader scheduled to start at 10 a.m.

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