CHARLESTON, S.C. (Feb. 15, 2009) - Junior Marissa Hardy (Rocklin, Calif.) tossed her first shutout of the season and senior Kate Powell's (Johnson City, Tenn.) single up the middle in the top of third proved the game-winner, as the ETSU softball team shocked Syracuse, 1-0, on the third and final day of the Cougar Classic Sunday morning, from Patriots Point Stadium.

The Lady Bucs, who were selected ninth in the Atlantic Sun, finished the weekend with a 3-2 mark; while Syracuse, who was tabbed sixth in the BIG EAST, dropped to 5-3 on the season.

Hardy won her second straight decision after allowing only five hits and striking out a season-high 10 Syracuse hitters. Meanwhile, the Lady Bucs were limited to only six hits, but the timely hitting paid off in the third inning as ETSU tagged Brittany Gardner for three base nocks.

ETSU couldn't get anything going offensively in the first two frames, and Hardy did a fantastic job working out of two jams in those innings.

Syracuse missed out on a scoring chance in the first inning, as Jamie Kelling singled through the left side of the infield and moved up to second on an Orange groundout. However, Kelling was being greedy on Hallie Gibbs' single to left, and Powell's cannon showed as she threw a laser to Trisha Massenzo (Russellville, Tenn.) to tag out Kelling and end the inning.

In the second, Amy Kelley led off with a double to left-center, but Hardy settled in by striking out two of the three Orange hitters and induced Lindsay Wasek to foul out, which ended the inning.

Then, after Powell's arm saved the Lady Bucs in the first, her bat did the same in the third. After Cheniece Cason (Moreno Valley, Calif.) and Katy Jett (Talbott, Tenn.) led off with back-to-back singles, Powell joined in on the fun as her single up the middle scored Cason for the games only run.

From there, Hardy was dealing as she recorded six of her 10 strikeouts in the final four innings of work. The junior right-hander again faced trouble in the fifth, but managed to get out of it without any damage. Jorden Rosen singled to short and advanced to second on Wasek's sacrifice bunt. Kelling moved Rosen over to third with her single through the right side, but Hardy struck out Gaby Torzilli swinging to end the inning.

Joining Cason, Jett and Powell with hits on the day were Jessie Hackworth (Clinton, Tenn.), Vicki McCoy (Ringgold, Ga.), and (Trisha) Massenzo.

Gardner suffered the loss after allowing the one run on six hits and fanning three batters.

The Lady Bucs now head home and prep for their home-opener inside the newly built ETSU Softball Stadium. First pitch of the double-header with Furman is set for 2 p.m.

For more information on Lady Buccaneer softball, visit www.ETSUBucs.com.