Softball

Syracuse seniors guide team into 1st-ever ACC tournament

Margaret Lin | Photo Editor

Jasmine Watson, Shirley Daniels and Alexis Partyka have one opportunity to extend their careers.

Since winning the 2011 Big East championship, Syracuse has lost in the first round of conference tournament play each of the past two years.

The freshmen from that team are seniors now. The Orange has a .500 overall record heading into its first Atlantic Coast Conference tournament and only one way to qualify for the NCAA tournament and extend the careers of Shirley Daniels, Jasmine Watson and Alexis Partyka.

“We want to win it because that’s our only shot at going to NCAAs,” Daniels said. “We kind of have more to fight for, more than just a championship.

“We want to keep going deep into the postseason.”

The No. 6-seed Orange (24-24, 12-12 ACC) will play No. 3-seed Virginia Tech on May 8 in College Park, Md. It will be a rematch of SU’s final series of the regular season on April 26–27, in which Syracuse took two-of-three games to clinch a spot in the ACC tournament, which marks the last run for Watson, Daniels and Partyka.



Even if Syracuse wins two games in the ACC tournament, its record likely won’t be good enough to earn an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament. The only way for the Orange to get in is through automatic qualification, which can only come from winning the ACC championship.

“You cannot have a great game and lose, and you’re out in the first round,” Partyka said. “Definitely more of a sense of urgency because we do know that if we don’t show up to play that day, it could be our last.”

In their first season at SU, Daniels, Watson and Partyka not only helped the Orange to its second consecutive Big East championship, but also the program’s first-ever NCAA tournament win. That year, Watson ranked fourth on the team in home runs and Daniels was fourth in stolen bases.

In 2012, the Orange went one-and-done in the Big East tournament after a 2-1 loss to St. John’s, but won three NCAA tournament games, including a 1-0 victory over No. 2 Arizona State. Daniels ranked third in batting average, hits and stolen bases, while Watson was tied for second with 10 home runs.

But after two years of at least some level of postseason success, Syracuse went 23-29 in 2013 and lost to Louisville in the first round of the conference tournament, failing to make the NCAA tournament.

For a senior class that has seen both ends of the spectrum, there’s one last chance to salvage last season’s early conclusion.

“Play like every game is your last because you don’t want to go out there and regret or wish you did anything else,” Partyka said. “Win or lose, you want to go out there and leave it all on the field.”

In the program’s first season in the ACC, Syracuse has performed as expected after being picked to finish seventh in the conference in the preseason coaches poll. Daniels set the all-time stolen bases record on March 15, while Watson broke the program’s home-run mark on April 2. Partyka also saw her role increase significantly from years past, appearing in 25 games and scoring seven runs in her final season.

The Orange is a lower seed heading into the conference tournament, but did take two of three games from second-seed Virginia Tech just two weeks ago.

“As you can see, it doesn’t really matter what ranking we are because at any given time, a low seed can beat a high seed,” Watson said. “You can have huge upsets, so I definitely believe that we’ll do well.”

Each senior helped the Orange beat the Hokies on April 26 and in turn, qualify for its first ACC tournament. Daniels singled off Kat Banks after making a shoestring catch to preserve a 3-3 tie in the seventh. Watson went 2-for-3 with a run and a RBI. Partyka scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth to clinch the win and the ACC tournament berth.

In a matter of weeks, the three seniors will have played their last game for Syracuse. Daniels starts her job at Macy’s in New York City on June 3, Watson has one more semester to complete before she graduates and Partyka will attend graduate school at SU, where she’ll study school counseling in the master’s program.

Although life will soon take them their separate ways, there’s one last mission to tackle.

“We’re not just going in there being whatever seed we’re going to be just to lose first game,” Daniels said. “We want to win.”





Top Stories