Catching up with Syracuse softball and tennis

While we’ve been focused on basketball and lacrosse, the Syracuse Orange’s Tennis and Softball seasons are well underway, so here’s what you need to know about what the teams have been up to lately.

Tennis

No. 67 Syracuse lost to No. 9 Virginia on Sunday with a final score of 1-6. Syracuse Junior and singles player Polina Kozyreva was the only one who pulled a win. It was a win by opponent retirement against Virginia Senior Sofia Munera, and it was her ninth consecutive win so far this season. Kozyreva is also 6-3 in doubles matches on the season, 4-1 with Miyuka Kimoto as a partner.

No matchup went into a third set and the Orange are now 6-3 overall and 0-2 in conference play. The Orange will take on Georgia Tech at home on Friday. Last year in April the Yellow Jackets were defeated by Syracuse 4-3.

Georgia Tech will arrive at Drumlins 4-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play with an ITA ranking of 37. Syracuse is 73rd in this week’s poll.

Softball

Syracuse lost to the Auburn Tigers on Sunday in a crushing score of 9-0 with the Tigers scoring 8 runs in the third inning alone. The first two innings gave the Orange a chance to come out on top, but ultimately they couldn’t come back after the third inning.

The team is 9-4 in the season so far, and started strong with a six-game winning streak until it was broken by Tarleton State.

Neli Cesares-Mahar leads the Orange offense in a number of categories including home runs (4), rbi (18), slugging (.865) and runs scored (16). Summer Clark is 6-0 with a 2.14 era on the mound to start the season. Syracuse will begin ACC play this weekend against NC State.

The Orange will play The Wolfpack on the road Friday through Sunday and then travel to Blacksburg, VA the following weekend to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies. NC State is currently 15-2 overall and Virginia Tech is 11-2.