Syracuse softball falls 13-5 to No. 25 Louisville in game one of the weekend series

By: Nick Zuppe | @nickzuppe

Louisville, Ky – Syracuse softball (18-21, 4-13 Atlantic Coast Conference) falls to number 25 Louisville (39-10, 16-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) 13-5 in a six-inning run-rule loss. Initially, it was all Orange, but then the Cardinals flew away from the ‘Cuse. 

Syracuse got on the board in the first inning on a two-run home run from Kendall Gaunt, and then Vanessa Flores went deep in the third to make it 3-0 Orange after the first three innings. 

SU tacked on two more in the fifth on two sacrifice flies, one being from Flores and the other Kaimi Tulua. So, going to the bottom of the fifth, the Orange led 5-0 and looked destined to pull off the upset. 

But then the Cardinals crushed the Orange’s hopes and scored 10 runs. Louisville scored 10 runs on seven hits, with three of those being for extra bases, including the one that knocked out SU starter Julianna Verni: a grand slam over the center field fence. 

Madison Knight came in and didn’t get one out. The senior gave up four earned runs and four hits. Sydney Jackson was the third pitcher of the inning for SU and got the final out in the fifth, but couldn’t get through the sixth. 

Louisville added the final three runs off Jackson on two hits, and capitalized on a costly error from the ‘Cuse. 

These two teams will play each other twice more this week: Saturday at 1:00 and Sunday at noon. For live game updates, follow @nickzuppe on X/Twitter and @citrustvsports on X/Twitter and Youtube for coverage!