Boston College Spoils Syracuse’s Home Opener with Sweep

By Sam Rothman

Softball Beat Reporter

SYRACUSE, N.Y.— Alexa Romero had already struck out her eighth batter, and it looked like she was on her way to a no-hitter. But, that all soon changed. Multiple walks and pitching errors cost Syracuse as it fell 4-2 in game one of its doubleheader on Saturday against Boston College at Skytop Softball Stadium.

Jordan Chimento solved Romero for BC’s first hit of the day, in the fifth inning, and she made it count. After Lexi DiEmmanuele advanced to second on a wild pitch, she ran home on Chimento’s single to put the Eagles on the board in game one. However, with no outs, Boston College wasn’t done. After a great performance thus far from Romero, the lefty lost control. Two straight wild pitches advanced two BC runners into scoring position, and they capitalized. In just minutes, the Eagles went from being on their way to being on the opposing end of a no-hitter, to ahead 3-0.

While Romero had been dominant all game until that point, she had no help from her offense. Before Boston College jumped out to a three-run lead, Syracuse loaded the bases in both the first and fourth. BC took advantage when it had runners on base. SU didn’t.

“We just came a little bit slower than they came,” said Hansen. “They jumped right on it. We definitely tried to do the job. But, when we aren’t reaching our full potential and the other team is, we are going to get beat. They played better than us today in every aspect.”

Syracuse responded right away with two runs of its own in the bottom of the fifth, capitalizing on a Boston College throwing error. But, that would it for game one.

Going into the second matchup of the day, the Orange looked to bounce back. However, things only worsened. The Eagles tallied multiple runs in one inning in the first game, and they would do it again, and again, in the second contest.

Heading into the fourth, Boston College led by just one run. With two outs, AnnaMarie Gatti walked a batter, and fell apart from there. Two consecutive singles led to two straight runs, and the Eagles soon had a three-run advantage for the second time on Saturday. But this time, BC would keep going. Gatti walked two more as  Annie Murphy crossed home for the fifth run of the day. Head Coach Mike Bosch says Syracuse needs to step up defensively in those situations.

“We need to get something to keep it at 2-1 or keep it at 3-1 instead of letting it snowball,” Bosch said.

After extending their lead to 9-2 on two home runs in the following inning, the Eagles put the nail in the coffin in the sixth. Miranda Hearn replaced Gatti in the circle, but the result was the same. Hearn gave up two walks and hit a batter. Murphy, who ended the day with four RBI, singled and drove home all three runners on a Syracuse fielding error. With two outs, Boston College took advantage and grabbed three runs once again.

“You got to see a very good example of them capitalizing on the mistakes we made, and when it came time for them to make a big play, they did,” outfielder Bryce Holmgren said.

The Orange left fourteen runners on base in the doubleheader.

“It’s not really happening on our side,” Bosch said. We get a walk, and we can’t capitalize. It’s kind of been the story a lot of our season, looking for that big hit. We’ve been close, but not quite getting it all over.”=

Syracuse looks to rebound in its rematch with Boston College on Sunday, Apr. 1 at noon.

@samrothman_ | sbrothma@syr.edu