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.

Orange Continue Win Streak

By Darius Joshua

The Syracuse Softball team took a break from the Big East schedule but continued its magical season with a sweep of the Binghamton Bearcats. 

Junior pitcher Jenna Caira also continued her stellar season by winning both games for the Orange with 19 strikeouts on the day. Caira, now 24-9, led the Orange defense in both Bearcat shutouts, the first 5-0 and the second 4-0. 

In the first game she pitched seven innings and allowed only two hits, no walks, no runs, and had eight strikeouts. She also struck out the first three bearcats she faced in the top of the first. In the second game she pitched for six innings allowed one hit, two walks, zero runs, and had eleven strikeouts.

The offense was led by junior outfielder Lasaira Daniels and Senior third basemen Hallie Gibbs. Daniels had four runs and hit .571 in the two game sweep. Gibbs had three RBI and two hits, including a homerun in the two games. 

In game one, the Syracuse offense got off to a quick start with a two run lead in the bottom of the first inning. The runs came off a two-run homer from Gibbs. The Orange didn’t register another run until the bottom of the fifth inning off a three-run bomb from junior catcher Lacy Kohl setting the final score of 5-0.

In the second game Caira started off strong again by striking out the first three batters again. Both teams remained scoreless until the bottom of the third when Gibbs hit a single that allowed Daniels to score the first run of the game. The Orange then scored again in the bottom of the fifth off a two RBI double to right field by Jasmine Watson. The Orange then clinched the victory in the sixth as Junior second basemen Stephanie Watts hit a RBI double to make the final score 4-0. 

The Orange return to the Big East play against Seton Hall on April 30 at 12 p.m.