Day 2 for Syracuse Softball at the Liberty Softball Classic

By: Nick Zuppe | @nickzuppe

Lynchburg, VA – On day two of the Liberty Softball Classic, Syracuse softball (7-4, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat Toledo (1-10, 0-0 Mid-American Conference) in game one 4-3, and lost to the host of the tournament, Liberty (3-9, 0-0 Conference USA) 5-3. So, how did the Orange do it?

In game one against the Rockets, it was a pitcher’s duel for a good portion of the game. The first run came when Syracuse first baseman Harmony Jackson made an errant throw.

But the Orange responded in the top of the fifth, and it was from a familiar foe. SU catcher Taylor Davidson had three RBIs and a home run against the Rockets yesterday. The junior singled home two runs to make it a 2-1 game that lasted until the bottom of the 6th inning.

In that frame, Toledo tied it when center fielder Shannon Bolding doubled, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and then came around to score on a groundout. However, the ‘Cuse would untie it just one half inning later.

SU’s Madison Knight blasted her fourth home run of the season. The senior belted a go-ahead no-doubt two-run home run, after pitching five innings of just one run ball earlier in the game.

Toledo would add another run in the bottom of the seventh on a single from left fielder Audry Miller. Still, SU’s Julianna Verni got Samantha Bolding to fly out to end the game with the tying run on second, and the winning run on first.

In game two, it was Liberty that got out to a hot start.

The Flames scored the first four runs of the game on a three-run home run over the left field fence from Savannah Jesse in the third. The redshirt junior drove in four runs in the two games against the Orange this weekend. Plus, Liberty infielder Maci Strikeland doubled in a run in the fourth, which knocked out SU starting pitcher Jackie Pengel.

Then, just two innings later, Alexia Carrasquillo doubled in two more runs that made it a 6-0 game.

Now, a big part of the game was the relief performance of Rockets pitcher Danner Allen. Allen came into the game in the second inning and didn’t allow a run, along with seven strikeouts.

As a whole, Syracuse’s offense was looking for the big hit, but couldn’t get it. The Orange went 1-9 against Toledo and 0-10 against Liberty with runners in scoring position. Plus, SU had a runner in scoring position in 4 of the 7 innings against Toledo and 5 of the 7 innings against Liberty.

However, the Orange conclude the weekend at the Liberty Softball Classic, battling Toledo for the third time, with the first pitch set for 10:00 AM tomorrow.

For live game updates, follow @nickzuppe on X/Twitter and @citrustvsports on X/Twitter and Youtube for coverage!