ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell softball team will close out a 2017 season that has been a step forward when it visits Syracuse for a single game on Tuesday, May 2 at 3:15 p.m. at Skytop Softball Stadium.

The Big Red has already surpassed last season's overall and Ivy League win totals, has increased its fielding percentage (.945 to .967), lowered its ERA (5.34 from 7.37) and increased its runs per game (4.0 from 3.9) while putting together a pitching staff without a senior and a lineup that will lose just one player a year from now. Head coach Julie Farlow's squad is 3-3 in its last six games, including this past weekend's four-game split with Ivy South Division champion Princeton, and is looking to head into the offseason on a high note.

Syracuse enters its season finale with a 30-18 record (10-10 ACC), going 11-3 since April 12. National player of the year candidate Sydney O'Hara leads an offense batting .308 as a team, hitting .475 with nine home runs and 42 RBI in 47 games. She is one of four regulars hitting .360 or better and is joined by Alicia Hansen (.368, 11 doubles, 27 RBI), Sammy Fernandez (.364, eight doubles, 17 RBI) and Bryce Holmgren (.360, 10 doubles, three home run, 35 RBI). Alexa Romero (11-7, 2.69 ERA) and AnnaMarie Gatti (9-7, 3.08 ERA) have done a majority of the starting, with O'Hara posting a 9-3 record and six saves with 124 strikeouts in 68.2 innings primarily in relief. Romero has 150 punchouts in 137.2 innings. Head coach Mike Bosch is in his second year directing the Orange and has posted a 57-44 overall record.

The Orange leads the all-time series 15-9, though Cornell snapped a seven-game losing streak in the last meeting, a 3-2 Big Red road win in 2013. The Big Red is 2-5 all-time against the Orange in Syracuse.