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Jessie DiPasquale took the mound for the first time in a Syracuse uniform in the top of the seventh inning against Maryland. After forcing the first two Terrapin batters to ground and fly out, she surrendered back to back singles. However, the UMass transfer did not let this shake her confidence. She got Delaney Reefe to pop out and seal a second SU win over the Terrapins in as many days in the Southeastern Louisiana Lion Classic.

After splitting the first day’s games at the Southeastern Louisiana Lion Classic, fueled by a strong offensive performance, Syracuse, (6-3, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) defeated Maryland (3-6, 0-0 Big Ten) once again 11-4. The Orange then topped Southeast Missouri (3-4, 0-0 Ohio Valley) 3-0 led by Lindsey Hendrix’s second complete game shutout of the season.

In its first game of its doubleheader against Maryland, however, Syracuse wasted no time and jumped ahead early. After closing SU’s 6-3 victory over the Terrapins the day before, Britney Lewinski again got the call to the mound. She forced Terrapins leadoff batter Caitlyn Cornwell to ground out, but then lost control of the ball and hit Jaeda McFarland with a pitch. McFarland used her speed to steal second and Diamond Williams singled to center field which gave the Terrapins the lead.

After Makenzie Foster struck out, Angel Jasso recorded her team-leading 15th hit, which was a triple into the gap in left center field. Taylor Posner then bunted, which scored Jasso to tie the game 1-1.

Later in the inning, a ground out by Rebecca Clyde advanced Posner to third base. A Kelly Breen walk placed runners at first and third before a wild pitch by Genevieve Ebaugh allowed Posner to score and give SU the lead. Laila Morales-Alves laced a single to right field, and Breen bolted all the way home to extend the SU edge to 3-1. Madison Knight struck the ball for a double, sending Morales-Alves home to extend it to 4-1. To close out SU’s highest scoring inning this season, Tessa Galipeau crushed one over the fence to put SU up 6-1.

After a scoreless second, the Terrapins began to cut into the Syracuse advantage in the third. With McFarland on first, Williams hammered her second home run of the season, decreasing the deficit to three.

A fielding error by the Terrapins to start the fourth allowed Foster to reach second base, which was followed up by Jasso getting hit by a pitch from Maryland pitcher Keira Bucher. A single and a double from Posner and Clyde grew the Orange’s edge up to 8-3, which sent Bri Godfrey to relieve Bucher on the mound for Maryland. Posner later tallied her third run of the contest to make it 9-3.

The back-and-forth pace of the game continued in the sixth inning. Maryland’s Mazie MacFarlane singled off a bunt, which put her in position to score when Michaela Jones slammed a pitch from Lewinski into right center field for a triple. Lewinski responded with her fourth strikeout of the afternoon to end the inning.

Clyde and Breen recorded runs in the bottom of the sixth to put the comeback all but out of reach for the Terps as DiPasquale sealed the win for Syracuse.

Hendrix got the start against Southeastern Missouri in SU’s second game of the day while Paytience Holman got the start for the Redhawks.

At the top of the second, SEMO’s Kynzie Wrigley singled to start the inning and then swiftly stole second base. Abigail Rickermann then advanced her to third. Hendrix recovered though, and got Zoe Schulte to ground out, letting the Orange escape the inning. Syracuse again struggled to find any sort of offense, as Breen was struck out, Galipeau got out on a ground ball and Knight was also struck out, giving Holman a pair of early Ks.

Hendrix continued to pitch a shutout through the bottom of the fourth, and SU took advantage by finally scoring. Jasso and Posner each hit consecutive singles, then they both stole third and second. Breen then laced a double into left field which put SU up 2-0.

With Breen now on third, a pop up from Knight then allowed her to make her way home, and Syracuse jumped out to a 3-0 advantage. This score would prove to be the final after three more scoreless innings from both sides.

Published on February 17, 2024 at 9:46 pm

Contact Matthew: mgray06@syr.edu