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Syracuse has struggled offensively in Atlantic Coast Conference play; its back-to-back no-hit games against Virginia earlier this month marked one of the worst afternoons in program history. While the Orange were just 3-15 in conference play entering their weekend series against Boston College, a switch flipped.

On Saturday, Syracuse’s offense exploded for 16 runs to down BC, its most runs in a game this season. In conference play, the Orange’s highest previous run total was nine.

That momentum carried into Sunday. After outscoring the Eagles 23-3 in the first two contests, Syracuse (27-19, 6-15 ACC) routed Boston College (21-26, 5-17 ACC) 5-1 to pick up its fifth straight win and first sweep of ACC play. Syracuse scored three in the third inning to open the floodgates and cruised to victory from there.

“It’s the greatest feeling,” said Syracuse starting pitcher Julianna Verni about the sweep. “We’ve got to roll it into next week for sure.”

Verni started after Madison Knight starred in the first two games of the series. The junior trails Knight for second on Syracuse in innings pitched (95).

In her last conference start against Virginia, Verni gave up a grand slam in the first inning. But Sunday was a different story. She established herself early with three groundouts in the top of the first inning. Boston College starter Bailey Kendziorski followed suit, shutting out Syracuse through one inning.

The second frame featured more of the same for both sides. Verni hit Abby Ptak in the ankle with a pitch, but Boston College couldn’t capitalize on the miscue, with Verni striking out Meghan Schouten for her first punch out of the game.

For Syracuse, the fireworks came in the second inning Saturday, scoring seven runs en route to a blowout victory. But it remained scoreless through two innings Sunday. After Knight singled to left field, Angie Ramos grounded into a double play.

But the Orange broke through in the third inning. With the game still scoreless, Kelly Breen sliced a single to right field. Laila Morales-Alves reached first base on a dribbler and Janis Espinoza made an errant throw to second base to advance Breen. With one out, Madelyn Lopez rocketed a double to right field to make it 1-0 Syracuse.

Through three games against Boston College, Lopez recorded five RBIs in the leadoff spot.

The bleeding for BC didn’t stop there. Kaimi Tulua hit a low, piercing single to right field, scoring Sophia Taliaferro, who’d pinch run for Morales-Alves. On the subsequent at-bat, Vanessa Flores drove in another run with a single, extending SU’s advantage to 3-0.

Boston College got the leadoff batter on base in the top of the fourth, but again, squandered its chance to score. Zoe Hines struck out on the following at-bat, followed by two more outs.

This trend continued in the fifth inning, as Schouten opened the frame with a hard-hit grounder that barely snuck past the outstretched arms of Ramos and Breen. A sacrifice bunt advanced Schouten to second base, and a groundout advanced her to third. But Gator Robinson struck out to give the Orange the final out of the inning and keep the Eagles scoreless.

Verni yielded baserunners but delivered with key pitches in tense moments.

Syracuse didn’t fail to stretch its lead. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Lopez cracked a stand-up double after Kali Case mistimed her dive in center field. Head coach Amy Kvilhaug then replaced Kendziorski with sophomore Kelly Colleran.

Colleran forced a poor bunt on her first batter, but a poor throw to second by BC’s catcher scored Lopez to make it 4-0. Flores doubled to center field on the subsequent at-bat, and Syracuse led 5-0 after the fifth.

Boston College took four innings to get into the scoring column on Saturday, and finally did so on Sunday in the sixth. With runners on first and second and two outs, Espinoza hit a routine pop up, but miscommunication by SU led to it falling past the diving Breen to score a run. However, Verni halted any chance at a BC rally with a groundout, ending the inning.

The Orange failed to score in the sixth inning, but notched their 10th hit of the game, the fifth time they’ve reached double-digit hits in conference play.

Leading 5-1, SU was in prime position to notch its sixth ACC win. Verni assured the win in the seventh inning, striking out Kase for her fifth of the game. The Eagles, in a familiar fashion, got a runner on base, but grounded out to give Syracuse the victory.

After earning its first ACC series win of the season, Syracuse must keep the momentum up to make the conference tournament. Verni emphasized that postgame, saying the team would go all-out to do so.

“It starts with the lift in the morning, keep the energy rolling through,” Verni said. “We just got to put in the work this week.”

Published on April 27, 2025 at 4:38 pm