Pitching Prevails. But not in Syracuse’s Favor.
By: Nathaniel Cunningham | @N_cunning_0
This season, Syracuse Softball (20-18, 4-11 Atlantic Coast Conference) has walked over 100 batters. Today against Seton Hall, Syracuse’s 5 walked batters couldn’t have come at a worse time leading to a 1-0 defeat from the Pirates.
It was a true pitchers duel early on. Seton Hall starter Kyra Kreuscher needed just 11 pitches to get through the first four batters and get her squad up to the plate. SU’s starter Jessie DiPasqualle wasn’t as efficient and surrendered a 13 pitch walk but kept the Pirates off the board early.
The second saw more of the same but with a little bit more fight from each squad. The Orange tallied 7 foul balls but failed to put any in play while Seton Hall got 2 runners on early in the frame but couldn’t produce anything with it.
The third was a clean inning for both squads. Kreuscher went 1-2-3 on 11 pitches in the top half. DiPassquale walked the first batter she saw but then took care of the next one and forced a double play.
For Seton Hall the fourth was more of the same. Another inning where Kreuscher went at batters and walked away on top. For Syracuse though, it was a different story. DiPassqualle walked the first two batters and her pitch count was getting towards 70 so Shannon Doepking went to Madison Knight out of the pen.
The sophomore’s first batter was a 5 pitch out as she was dotting the zone. However Knight then gave up a single to center which loaded the bases and another single to center to bring in the first run of the game. After that, Knight had a vengeance striking out the next two and left the bases loaded.
The rest of the game was back to normal. Kreuscher faced just 12 batters in the last 3 innings while only allowing 1 hit and 2 walks. Knight was perfect in the fifth and the sixth with 6 batters up, 6 batters down.
It was a dominating win from start to finish for Seton Hall thanks to a complete game 2 hitter from Kyra Kreuscher. However the Orange did take the series win and come back to the 315 with an above .500 record. Syracuse’s next game is Wednesday against Cansius in a double header that was rescheduled from April 3rd.
