A Rout and a Walk-Off Make Up Eventful Day in Athens
Cole Purvis | @Cole_Purvis
Syracuse softball (11-0) continued its blazing-hot start to the season on Friday, but it certainly was not a stress-free path to remain unbeaten. The first game was a 7-0 rout of fellow upstate New York opponent Buffalo, by a score of 7-0. The next game featured a walk-off hit to lift SU past Utah Valley, 3-2. Let’s dive deeper into the pair of victories collected by coach Shannon Doepking’s team today.
Game 1
Heading into this weekend, Syracuse gained some national recognition for its outstanding pitching. The SU staff held the lowest combined ERA in the country, at 0.36. The outstanding work in the circle would continue against Buffalo on Friday morning.
Junior Julianna Verni was on the bump, making her fifth start of the year, all of them wins so far. The Buffalo native continued to roll, allowing only four hits and walking nobody in a complete game shutout. On top of this, Verni tallied eleven strikeouts, the first time in her career tossing double-digit Ks.
At the dish, hits came early and often for the ‘Cuse. In the opening frame, catcher Laila Morales-Alves got the party started, grounding into a fielder’s choice which resulted in the speedy Jadyn Burney crossing the plate. Later in the inning, freshman Kaimi Tulua grounded one to first, scoring junior Madelyn Lopez. Syracuse continued to earn the reputation of a team with not a lot of power, but one that could manufacture runs by putting the ball in play.
In the third, infielder Kelly Breen mashed the first triple of the year for the Orange. She would cash in courtesy of a Morales-Alves RBI single, making it 3-0.
Fast forward to the bottom of the fifth, SU was up 6-0, looking for insurance. They would get it, off the bat of junior Peyton Schemmer. The Californian blasted her second career homer over the wall in left field, making it 7-0. Syracuse’s offense would quiet down after this, but with Verni’s effort on the mound, it didn’t matter. It was now double-digit wins without a blemish on the record for the Orange.
Game 2
The second and final game of the day against Utah Valley will go down as a wake-up call for Syracuse, as the Orange barely skirted away from their first loss of the season. With ace Madison Knight on the mound, and the opposing Wolverines holding just a 2-8 record, the contest had “run-rule” written all over it.
In the top of the first, Knight worked her way out of a bases-loaded jam that had Syracuse biting its nails. When the Orange got up to bat in the bottom of the first, they jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to Breen’s second extra base hit of the day, a double that scored Lopez and Burney.
Utah Valley would get one back in the second, when freshman Tatum Hall hit an RBI single down the right field line. In the third, the Wolverines would know it up at 2-2 following pitcher Avery Mann’s RBI double.
From there, things stayed deadlocked at two runs apiece for a lengthy amount of time. While Knight went the distance for Syracuse, Mann would be relieved by junior Payge Armendariz after four innings of work. Both teams would threaten, but not score, until the final opportunity.
In the bottom of the seventh, SU made it clear it did not want to go to extra innings. Two ‘Cuse hits from Lopez and Breen started the inning, and with runners on first and second, Laila Morales-Alves roped a double into left center that sent Lopez home, giving Syracuse the 3-2 win.
Knight would get her fourth win of the season.
A victory is a victory, but likely not the kind of performance Syracuse desired against a 2-8 team. Nonetheless, the Orange are 11-0, setting up a clash of unbeatens tomorrow when Doepking’s crew takes on #9 Georgia tomorrow at 3:30. A big “measuring stick” game for Syracuse will finally be here.
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