After five scoreless innings of play, a strong sixth inning pulled Florida State (23-3, 3-0 Atlantic Coast) over Syracuse (12-14, 1-5 ACC), 3-0, on Sunday afternoon in ACC softball play in Tallahassee, FL.

Jocelyn Cater got the start for the Orange, giving up no runs on just one hit and one strikeout in four innings of work. She was followed in relief by Sydney O’Hara for the final two innings, who gave up three Seminole runs, all in the sixth inning.

Scoreless until the sixth, O’Hara walked Florida State utility player Cali Harrod with one out on the board. On the first pitch of the next at-bat, Harrod stole second, and was then knocked in by an Ellie Cooper triple later in the at-bat, making the score 1-0.

In the very next at-bat, Zoe Casas entered the game as a pinch hitter for the Seminoles and scored Cooper on a fielder’s choice groundout to first base, bringing the score to 2-0.

Jessica Warren ended Florida State’s scoring with a one-out home run later in the sixth inning. It was just the third home run given up by O’Hara this season, and it put the Seminoles up 3-0, where they would stay for the rest of the game.

Jessica Burroughs stifled the Orange offense all game. The redshirt junior is 13-2 on the season, and after taking game one from the Orange yesterday, she returned to the mound again on Sunday.

Burroughs gave up no runs on just three hits and ten strikeouts in a complete game shutout of the Orange, which included two three-batter innings to start the game.

Sammy Fernandez, Maddi Doane, and O’Hara each tallied a hit for the Orange, which fell to 1-5 in the ACC after Sunday’s contest.

The Orange will look to rebound from its three-loss weekend on Wednesday for it’s home opener at Skytop Softball Stadium in a doubleheader against Niagara University. The first game is scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m., with the next game directly after.

Published on March 20, 2016 at 3:28 pm

Contact Matt: mjfel100@syr.edu