Syracuse loses its first ever Big East game to Villanova 11-10.
Syracuse (4-3, 2-1) fell to Villanova (5-3, 1-0) at the Carrier Dome on Sunday night 11-10. It was a slugfest between the two teams. The game was very physical and went back and forth. The Orange led for the majority of the first half but came out of the locker room sluggish and Villanova capitalized.
The Orange took both games from the Duel in the Dome over the weekend
Senior first basemen Kelly Saco hit a walk-off single to lead Syracuse to its second victory in as many days at the Carrier Dome on Saturday. The No. 24 Orange (19-8) defeated Canisius (4-18) 6-5. The weekend marked the first time ever softball was played in the Carrier Dome and the Orange extended its current winning streak to nine games. On Friday the team defeated Colgate 6-0.
Jenna Caira strikes out 7 in the first home game of the season
Home plate was near the 50-yard line, field goal posts were used as foul poles, and bases were mounted into the turf of Ernie Davis Legends Field for the first ever softball game in the Carrier Dome on Friday night.
"It was so much fun, great energy in here," head coach Leigh Ross said. "The girls were extra excited to have so many fans here."
A missed Wisconsin 3-point attempt followed by a desperation shot in the games final seconds helped Syracuse keep its season alive.
NOTE: This story originally appeared in The Badger Herald, a student-run newspaper at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Mike Fiammetta's original story can be found here.
In every way, Wisconsin brought all they had to the Sweet 16.
The Orange's offensive onslaught buried Providence.
After losing to Johns Hopkins, the Orange (4-2) came out strong Thursday against Providence (1-4) in a 10-6 victory. The Friars weren't really expected to put up much of a fight. Their only win this season came against Wagner. So this was just the game the Orange needed to get back on track heading into a matchup with No. 14 Villanova on Sunday.
The Orange went down early and couldn't climb back to catch the Blue Jays on Homewood Field in Baltimore
The No. 2 Johns Hopkins Blue Jays (7-0) flew by the the No. 5 Syracuse Orange (3-2) in Baltimore, 11-7 on Saturday afternoon. Johns Hopkins jumped out to an early 4-1 lead and never looked back. There was even a 20-minute span of time when the Orange didn't score a goal at all. They couldn't get anything going on offense and the defense struggled to stop the Hopkins sharp shooters.
Here are three thoughts from the game:
1. This team demonstrates shades of the 2007 Orange.
Syracuse pulled away from UNC-Asheville thanks in part to 13 second-half points from junior forward James Southerland
Syracuse played poorly for 30 minutes but found a way to avoid the upset with some timely shooting and a clutch performance from junior forward James Southerland, winning 72-65. The Orange were down by four at the half as UNC-Asheville found holes in the SU zone, both in the high-post and beyond the arc. The Bulldog’s lead stretched to as large as seven, but Syracuse fought back and re-gained the lead for good after Southerland hit a jumper with six minutes left in the game.
Syracuse will be without its starting center, but what's the best way to go about taking down the Orange?
Let me preface this by saying that it’s not easy. Simple. But not easy. The Orange is deep, talented and buck wild in transition. However, despite its bulky record, Syracuse is more prone to a loss than one would suspect. Come tournament time, a team that can do the three tasks listed below has a good chance at pulling an upset over SU like Cincinnati and Notre Dame did.
The sophomore center did not travel with the team to Pittsburgh and will sit out the entire tournament due to eligibility issues
Syracuse starting center Fab Melo will not participate in the NCAA Tournament and did not travel with his teammates to Pittsburgh for the first round, accroding to SUAthletics.com.