Romero Leads Orange to First ACC Victory in Extra Innings
By Tom Russo
CitrusTV Softball Beat Reporter
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – If there was any doubt as to who the ace of the SU pitching staff is, that matter would seem to be put to rest. Only the top arm could battle through eight innings, face 37 batters, throw 159 pitches, and emerge victorious.
That’s exactly what Alexa Romero did today in the 4-2 extra innings win for Syracuse (9-16, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) over the Louisville Cardinals (19-8, 2-1).
The victory snapped a four game losing streak for the Orange, and salvaged the final game of the first ACC series of the year.
It’s also the second time Syracuse has gone to extra innings this year. The first time was the eight inning 3-2 victory over Grand Canyon University, which also was also the first win of the season for the Orange.
The pitcher in that game was also Alexa Romero.
She was more dominant against GCU, but Romero showed her tenacity and perseverance against Louisville. Romero gave up seven hits and walked six Cardinals. In fact, Louisville had at least one baserunner against Romero in every inning except the third.
Yet time and again, Romero battled back and wriggled her way out of jams, yielding only two runs and stranding 11 Cardinals on base, including leaving the bases loaded in the fourth.
Meanwhile the bats struggled against Danielle Watson, who struck out 11 SU batters on the day. But the Orange offense managed to do just enough damage to the Louisville ace to scratch out a win for Romero.
Alicia Hansen turned her two-out single in the first into an early run on a pair of throwing errors when she attempted to steal second.
Gabby Teran managed to bang in a run on an RBI single in the top of the seventh, which appeared to set up SU for a 2-1 win, but Teran couldn’t turn what would have been the game ending double play in the bottom half of the inning, allowing Louisville to tie it up.
But the bats awoke in the eighth with a leadoff double from Neli Casares-Maher. An RBI Double from Hannah Dossett brought her in to take back the lead. Then, Toni Martin drove in Dossett in to provide a little more insurance for Romero, who would nail it down and strand two more Cardinals in the bottom of the eighth.
The Orange has a three game set in Chestnut Hill this upcoming weekend, starting with the first meeting at 5:00 p.m. Friday against Boston College.
twrusso@syr.edu ǀ @TomRusso24
