Vanessa Flores tallies 4 hits, 4 RBIs despite SU’s losses to UNC
Despite Syracuse falling twice to UNC in its doubleheader Sunday, Vanessa Flores notched her first career three-hit game and recorded four RBIs. Leonardo Eriman | Asst. Video Editor
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Throughout Syracuse’s 2025 season, success has been built on one key factor: consistency. Consistency on the mound. Consistency at the plate. Consistency in the lineup. Six players on SU’s roster have been mainstays, each appearing in at least 30 games and regularly anchoring the starters.
However, the Orange still hold value in their bench, regularly receiving support from Kaimi Tulua, Lauren Fox, Taylor Davison and Kayla Sigala. The four have lifted Syracuse to a 21-11 record entering Sunday, and the squad was coming off its second Atlantic Coast Conference win.
To find success against North Carolina, the Orange needed their bench players to continue to play a key role, but the primary asset didn’t come from those four; Vanessa Flores stepped up.
Despite Syracuse (21-13, 2-10 ACC) dropping both of its games on Sunday to UNC (28-9, 8-4 ACC), Flores recorded four hits, four RBIs and reached base six times. She also delivered the first three-hit game of her career and hit her first home run since April 20, 2024, at Pittsburgh.
“I think it’s just not giving up on ourselves and not giving up on our plans, our practice plans and everything else. Everything will work out,” Flores said postgame.
During Flores’ three-year career at SU, playing time has been scarce. A season-ending injury derailed her freshman campaign. Her sophomore season was a step in the right direction, but with Tessa Galipeau breaking into her third year, the battle for the starting spot barely existed.
In her junior season, Flores has continued to play a minimal role, appearing in 19 games and starting just 10. Her appearances also have been to little avail, tallying a .095 batting average (2-for-21) entering Sunday. For Flores to earn a more consistent spot in the lineup, she had to step up. And when her name was called, she answered.
Batting fifth and serving as the designated hitter in game one, Flores came to the plate in a promising situation. Following a Taylor Posner double and a Galipeau walk, she was hopeful to tie the game at 1-1 after Carlie Myrtle’s RBI single in the opening frame.
For the first pitch of the at-bat, UNC’s starting pitcher Britton Rogers — who ranks eighth in the ACC with a 2.14 ERA — fed her a 66-mile-per-hour pitch, and she capitalized, clubbing her first home run of the season far over the center-field fence. In her first start in two weeks, Flores’ long ball was an encouraging way to start the day.
“(UNC’s) pitching staff is pretty good, but they sequenced every pitch. I knew exactly what they were throwing every time,” Flores said. “I was able to pick it up and use it … before she started her load.”
Flores lifted the Orange to an early 3-1 lead, but she wasn’t done.
After a five-run second inning from the Tar Heels, she led off SU’s offensive attack in the third. Again against Rogers, Flores knocked the pitch the opposite way, standing on first with a leadoff single. Despite being replaced by Sophia Taliaferro on the basepaths, Flores’ spot eventually scored, cutting SU’s deficit to one at 6-5.
Flores had recorded four two-hit games in her career before Sunday and just two total hits all season, but she quickly reached that mark in three innings.
In the fifth, her next at-bat, she again led off for the Orange, though this time, against Lilly Parrish. But the pitching change didn’t matter; Flores ripped a pitch into center field. Similar to the third, Flores was pinch-run for, this time from Fox. However, her spot still played a key role, with Fox scoring courtesy of a Madelyn Lopez single with two outs.
“(Stringing together hits and the energy) gives us players in the starting lineup (a feeling) like, ‘OK, I see you guys have my back, and I’m going to go have your back now,’” Flores said.
Flores’ game one performance concluded following the third at-bat, as Syracuse went on to fall 11-6. However, she had another starting opportunity in game two, this time facing Kenna Raye Dark, whose 2.93 ERA ranked second among UNC pitchers.
After her game one performance, Flores was rewarded, jumping into the three-hole for game two. Her dominance carried over from her opening appearance right away, pushing Jadyn Burney to third base on an infield single, her fourth hit of the afternoon.
Taliaferro pinch ran for Flores and eventually scored, boosting Syracuse into a 2-1 lead that grew to 3-1 before the inning was complete.
Flores followed her knock with a walk in the third, marking a perfect on-base percentage in her first five plate appearances. She hurried to third base soon after on a Galipeau double before Lopez stranded them.
In the fifth, Flores hit into her first offensive putout, blasting a sharp grounder to Dark at the mound that she tossed to first with plenty of time. Syracuse was retired in order for the second time without Flores’ offensive spark.
Her final plate appearance came in the sixth with the bases loaded. And despite not recording a hit in the at-bat, she walked to cut SU’s deficit to two with her fourth RBI of the day. That was all for Flores as she was later pinch-hit for in Syracuse’s eventual 10-9 loss.
Regardless of the outcomes, Flores showed Sunday she has the skills and presence to crack the Orange’s starting lineup. Her day marked career-bests in hits and RBIs, providing an offensive spark to Syracuse’s lineup when needed most.
“I just stick to the plan, stick to my one pitch,” Flores said. “If (UNC) was going to throw it, I was going to obviously hit it.”
