SU vs. Pennsylvania
SU vs. Colorado State
ORLANDO, Fla. - The Syracuse softball team lost a pair of extra inning games at the UCF Spring Fling on Tuesday, March 11. The Orangewomen (4-8) were defeated by Colorado State, 2-1 in eight innings, and Pennsylvania, 4-3, also in eight innings.
Both games were decided using the international tie-breaker. At the start of each extra inning a runner was placed on second base. The contests were the first extra-inning games this season for the Orangewomen.
Junior second baseman Rachel Park (Mt. Juliet, Tenn./Friendship Christian) tied the Syracuse school record with four hits versus the Quakers. Park finished both games 4-for-7 with a run scored and a double. Senior Christina Holowich (Castro Valley, Calif./Moreau Catholic) had three hits, including her first triple of the season, and sophomore Tanya Rose (Milwaukie, Ore./Rex Putnam) had two doubles and a run scored.
The Orangewomen fought back from a 3-0 deficit in the first game of the day versus Pennsylvania. The Quakers plated their first three runs in the top of the third inning on a two-RBI single by Crista Farrell and a run-scoring hit by Erin O'Brien.
Syracuse scored one run in each of the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to tie the game and force extra innings. Freshman Alexis Switenko (Blue Anchor, N.J./Winslow Township) drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly. Sophomore catcher Katie Kaempfer (Las Vegas, Nev./Bonanza) recorded a sacrifice fly in the sixth to cut the lead to 3-2. Senior third baseman Julie Dunn (Springfield, Ill./Springfield) knotted the score at 3-3 with an RBI single in the seventh.
The Quakers scored the game-winning run in the top of the eighth. Danielle Landolt bunted the tie-breaker runner, Kristi Hackett, to third base. Hackett scored on a field ing error by the Orangewomen.
Sophomore Taylor Petersen (1-2) (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) took the loss in relief for the Orangewomen. Petersen went five and one-third innings, striking out five and walking only one. She did not allow a hit and her only run was unearned. Rebecca Ranta went the distance to earn the win for the Quakers.
SU jumped out first versus Colorado State, plating a run in the top of the first inning. A leadoff triple by Holowich set the stage for freshman Cassie Morales' (Whittier, Calif./St. Paul) squeeze bunt. The Rams tied it in the bottom of the inning on a single by Jennifer Mahoney.
Both teams went scoreless until the bottom of the eighth inning. Tie-breaker runner Brittany Burtner moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a sacrifice fly by Carly Allen.
Senior Tara DiMaggio (3-4) (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay) was the losing pitcher. She went the distance, striking out two and walking one. She allowed only two hits and one earned run in the game. Megan Masser was the winner for the Rams, striking out eight without a walk.
The Orangewomen continue their trip through Florida on Wednesday with an 11 a.m. game versus the Miami (OH) RedHawks.