Syracuse Softball Heads to Championship

By Ben Glidden

The #3 seeded Syracuse University Softball team scored two runs in the first inning and thats all it would take to beat the #2 seeded DePaul Blue Demons today at Ulmer Stadium in Louisville. The 2-0 victory propelled the Orange to the Championship for its second straight season and extended its longest win streak in program history to 13 games.

The first of the only two runs of the game came off back to back triples. First a lead off triple from second baseman Stephanie Watts and a RBI triple from Lisaira Daniels followed. The second run came off the bat of third baseman Haillie Gibbs, giving her RBI number 62 of the season.

The real story for the Orange was in the circle as starting pitcher Jenna Caira did what she has done all season. She pitched lights out and earned her 33rd win. She went all seven innings without giving up a run. She gave up just two hits on seven strikeouts to lead the Orange to victory.

Caira completely shut down DePaul's All-Big East First Team selection, Kirsten Verdun. Verdun's slugging percentage this season was .622 and she hit 11 home runs and had 42 RBIs but she was hitless today and stuck out once.

The Orange will face the winner of Louisville and Notre Dame tomorrow at 5PM on ESPN2. But the quest for a second straight Big East title wont necessarily come easy. Syracuse played three games against Louisville this season and won them all, however the Orange was winless against Notre Dame this season.