Orange Struggle Against Gators, But Dandola Sparkles in Florida A&M Rematch
By Tom Russo
CitrusTV Softball Beat Reporter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Syracuse (4-8, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) found itself on the right and wrong ends of a pair of 8-0 finishes at Day 2 of the Bubly Invitational. The Orange fell in six innings to No. 3 Florida (16-0, 0-0 Southeastern) before rebounding in the nightcap to trounce Florida A&M (1-10, 0-0 Mid-Eastern Athletic) in five frames.
The Gators leapt out to an early lead in the matinee, as Amanda Lorenz led-off the bottom of the first with a solo homer off Miranda Hearn.
The game was blown open in the fourth when Kendyl Lindaman launched a grand slam off Peyton Schnackenberg to extend the Gator lead to 6-0.
No. 3 Florida then wrapped things up early in the sixth, as Hannah Adams put an RBI double in the right center field gap before coming around to score the game-ending run on Alex Voss’ RBI Triple.
Florida’s Kelly Barnhill had another excellent outing, holding the Orange to only three hits on the afternoon, as she recorded her eighth win in as many starts.
In the nightcap, it was the Orange pitcher who shut down the opposition. Sophie Dandola tossed an absolute gem, giving up only two hits to a Florida A&M team that hung ten runs on the Orange yesterday.
Dandola struck out seven Rattlers in five shutout innings of work, recording the first shutout of the year for Syracuse.
The sophomore pitcher got something else that has been on-and-off this season: Run Support.
Bryce Holmgren tallied her first homer of the season with a two-run blast in the first to open the scoring,
After two more runs in the first, courtesy of a wild pitch and an error, Syracuse erupted for four more in the second, punctuated by RBI doubles from Neli Casares-Maher and Toni Martin.
Syracuse will close out its Bubly Invitational schedule tomorrow with a second meeting with No. 3 Florida at noon.
twrusso@syr.edu | @TomRusso24
