Syracuse’s sweep Sunday to take a 3-1 record at the Southeastern Louisiana Classic
Nathaniel Cunningham | @n_cunning_0
After Syracuse Softball (4-3, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) split day one, the Orange had high hopes for day two. SU would take on Maryland (who they played the day before) and Southeast Missouri State with the chance to improve their record to 6-3.
Game One vs Maryland
Britney Lewinski got the start in the circle for the first time in her SU career. The Seminole State transfer gave up an RBI single in the first before finishing out the inning. After an early score for the Terrapins, The Orange chose to respond with some offense of their own.
Angel Jasso continued her hot start with a triple followed by Taylor Posner reaching safely after hitting a sacrifice bunt tying the game. Rebecca Clyde grounded out but with two outs and 4 batters into the game, the Orange opened the floodgates.
Kelly Breen tallied a 4 pitch walk and then stole second after a wild pitch which also scored Posner. Laila Morales-Alves singled to left, scoring Breen. Knight added a double to right center scoring Morales-Alves and the Orange took an early three-run lead. Then Tessa Galipeau homered to right field ending a slew of offense.
Lewinski was perfect in the second, fourth, and fifth but in the third and sixth, the Junior gave up a two-run homer to Diamond Williams and a triple that scored one to Michaela Jones respectively. Despite a far-from-perfect day in the circle for Lewinski, her offense stepped up when she needed it.
In the fourth and the sixth, The Orange would tally back-to-back hits in both innings and capitalize off of some mistakes from the Terrapins. Syracuse tallied 11 runs in a game for the second time this season and swept Maryland on the weekend. While the win grants celebration, the Orange had just half an hour to get ready for game number two.
Game Two vs Southeast Missouri State
While game one was all about Syracuse’s offense, game two was about who was in the circle. SU started Linsdey Hendrix for the fourth time this season and she just kept up with where she left off.
In the first, the senior hit a batter but struck out two to get out of the inning. In the second Hendrix gave up 2 singles but forced weak contact to get out of that jam. In the third Hendrix did the same, forced weak contact, and went one-two-three. The fourth was more of the same. A single early but 2 more strikeouts just shutting down any momentum the Redhawks tried to create.
In the bottom half of the fourth, SU’s offense helped out their starter. Back-to-back singles from Angel Jasso and Taylor Posner were followed by a double from Kelly Breen and the Orange struck first. Breen advanced to third on an error and then Madison Knight scored her on a sacrifice fly.
With the Orange having a 3-0, they gave the ball back to their ace to keep dealing. In the fifth, Hendrix walked one but struck out one and the Redhawks stayed scoreless. In the sixth, SEMO notched back-to-back singles however Hendrix did exactly what she does best. A clutch fly out to right that didn’t advance the runners followed by an even better strike kept it a scoreless game. Then in the seventh, Hendrix added her second one-two-three game and led the Orange to a 3-0 win.
Hendrix’s final line was; 7.0 innings pitched, 0 runs, 5 hits, 8 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 1 hit by pitch. The Senior dropped her ERA to below one on the year and in 4 starts has 2 complete game shutouts.
The Orange now have some time to rest and relax as they’ll stay in Louisiana until next weekend when they take part in the Best on the Bayou Classic. Syracuse will take on Evansville and Louisiana at Monroe on Friday at 2:30 and 7:30. On Saturday SU takes on Northwestern State at 12:30 and Louisiana at Monroe at 5:30. Then the orange open Sunday against Sam Houston at 10 am.
nbcunnin@syr.edu | @n_cunning_0
