Syracuse, Virginia Meet Again In ACC Tournament First Round

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Syracuse softball kicks off its 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament journey with a rematch against Virginia in the first round on Wednesday, May 10 at 1 p.m. in South Bend, Indiana. Tickets to the ACC Tournament can be purchased here. The contest will be televised nationally on ACC Network.

ORANGE UPDATE:

The Orange head to their eighth ACC Tournament appearance, earning a bid to the postseason tournament for the seventh straight season.
Syracuse are the nine seed, finishing with seven wins in ACC play.
The regular season ended with Syracuse dropping all three games against Boston College over the weekend.
Freshman outfielder Madelyn Lopez leads the Orange in batting average (.305) and OPS (.810).
At the plate, Tessa Galipeau owned the month of April. The second-year starter led the team in batting average (.404) and on-base percentage (.500) to finish the month.
Syracuse is led by freshman Madison Knight in the circle, as the Baltimore, Maryland native leads the team in earned run average (3.04), strikeouts (124) and innings pitched (140.1).
The Orange are one of the stronger defensive sides in the ACC.
After finishing 10th in fielding percentage in 2022, Syracuse ranks fourth in the ACC this season with a .971 fielding percentage and is tied for fourth in fewest errors committed with 38.
The .971 team fielding percentage is the best in head coach Shannon Doepking's tenure.
Syracuse is the youngest team in the ACC, as the 10 freshmen on the roster are the most in the conference.
Freshmen make up 42 percent of the roster (10-24) and underclassmen account for 72% of hits (232-322).
The Orange are 1-7 all-time in the ACC Tournament, winning the first ACC Tournament game in program history last year against Louisville in the first round.
Syracuse has a -16-run differential in the ACC Tournament, allowing 33 runs while scoring 15 runs in eight games.

SCOUTING THE CAVALIERS:

Virginia finished the regular season with a 30-21 record, going 8-16 in ACC play.
In its last ten games of the regular season, the Cavaliers went 3-7, being swept by Louisville and Syracuse in their last two ACC series.
Freshman infielder Jade Hylton leads Virginia in batting average (.310) and RBIs (26), starting all 51 games for the Cavaliers.
Fellow freshman Eden Bigham stars in the circle, throwing a season-high 110.2 innings while posting a team-best 2.34 ERA.

THE SERIES:

Syracuse and Virginia meet for a fourth time this season.
The Orange swept the Cavaliers with a +15-run differential earlier this season, scoring 24 runs and allowing nine in the series.
Syracuse leads the all-time series, 18-4.

UP NEXT:

The winner of the Syracuse-Virginia first round matchup will play number-one seed Florida State on Thursday, May 11 at 11 a.m. on ACC Network.

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