Syracuse snaps 3-game skid with 6-0 victory over Le Moyne
Syracuse softball snapped its three-game losing skid with a 6-0 win over LeMoyne Wednesday. Angelina Grevi | Staff Photographer
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Following a series where Syracuse was outscored 33-1 by Clemson, it’s safe to say it desperately needed a reset away from conference play. Throughout the weekend, SU was dominated by the Tigers’ rotation, mustering up just one extra-base hit across three games.
Since entering conference play, the Orange have gotten accustomed to starting off on the wrong foot, scoring first-inning runs in just one of their nine Atlantic Coast Conference games. So, with a chance to get back on the right track against Le Moyne Wednesday, it was imperative that SU took the lead first and quickly.
It didn’t happen in the first inning. But when Taylor Davison came to the plate with the bases juiced in the second, she made sure Syracuse didn’t get off to a bad start this time around. Her ground ball found Dominique Rinaldi at second, whose throwing error scored both Laila Morales-Alves and Tessa Galipeau to give SU a 2-0 lead.
That advantage was all that Syracuse (20-11, 1-8 ACC) needed, as it shut out Le Moyne (8-19, 1-5 Northeast) 6-0 Wednesday to snap its three-game losing skid. SU only registered four hits throughout the day, though pitcher Julianna Verni logged eight strikeouts in five innings to guide the Orange to victory.
At the outset, it looked to be another sluggish start for Syracuse. Gabby Lantier led off the inning with a strikeout, Jadyn Burney got out on a failed bunt and Taylor Posner struck out to end the frame scoreless.
But after Verni shut the Dolphins down in the bottom of the first, Syracuse entered the second ready to pounce on Le Moyne starter Nevaeh Ross. With one out, Galipeau started the inning with a walk, and she advanced to third after a single and a hit-by-pitch from Morales-Alves and Kelly Breen.
Davison’s aforementioned fielder’s choice plated two for the Orange, and she stole second soon after reaching. With Breen on third, Sophia Taliaferro stung a ground ball to shortstop, scoring Breen and tacking on a third run for SU.
Syracuse continued to threaten in the top of the third, with Posner reaching on a one-out walk and Angie Ramos following with a walk of her own. However, Posner got thrown out attempting to steal soon after and Ross forced Galipeau to fly out to end the rally.
Meanwhile, Verni continued to dominate. Besides a Rinaldi hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the fourth, SU’s ace was untouched across the second, third and fourth innings.
Her performance set the stage for Davison to tack on a couple more insurance runs in the top of the fourth. Morales-Alves led the inning off by drawing a walk, but she was quickly substituted out for pinch runner Lauren Fox. Then, Breen followed when she was hit by a pitch to move Fox into scoring position.
Unfortunately for the Orange, Fox got a little adventurous, attempting to swipe her first bag of the season on a steal of third. She was promptly thrown out by Elaina Kassap, while Breen took the opportunity to move up to second on the play.
With just one out on the board, Davison could’ve plated Breen with a single. But she did a little bit more than that. Still facing Ross, Davison crushed her first-career home run deep over the center field fence to bring the lead to 5-0 for Syracuse.
Once the Dolphins got to the fifth, they began to seriously threaten Verni for the first time. Cianna Benamati broke up her no-hit bid with a single to third base, and she was promptly substituted for pinch-runner Alayna Bush.
Audrey Benderski struck out, but Bush quickly moved into scoring position by stealing second. Then, Bush stole third on a second Verni strikeout, giving Le Moyne a prime opportunity to get on the board.
But it never capitalized on that chance, as Verni quickly escaped the jam by striking out Gabriella Zarcone. Verni was replaced by Jackie Pengel after that frame, but it didn’t make a difference. The Dolphins wouldn’t notch another hit, and they only had two more baserunners throughout the rest of the game.
Heading into the seventh inning, the Orange didn’t need to tack on any additional runs to seal their 20th victory. But they continued to keep their foot on the gas against Le Moyne reliever Rose Nicastro, as Lantier led off the inning with a double into left field, only her third extra-base hit of the season.
Burney and Posner followed with a strikeout and popout, respectively, and it appeared SU wouldn’t notch an additional run to close the game. But when Ramos laced a ground ball to shortstop, Shannon Gavigan scooped it up and fired an errant throw to first, allowing her to reach base and scoring Lantier to wrap up Syracuse’s victory.
