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Julianna Verni hasn’t replicated her nonconference dominance this season. None of Syracuse’s pitchers have.

But Verni, the quick-pitching starter who led SU with a 0.61 ERA entering Atlantic Coast Conference play last year, exited the 2026 Liberty Softball Classic with an ERA of 5.73. With the season in its incipient stages, head coach Shannon Doepking prioritized rotating pitchers, often limiting Verni to less than five innings.

Until Friday.

Verni struck out 11 batters, tying a career high in Syracuse’s (8-6, ACC) 5-4 win over Fairfield (3-7, Metro Atlantic) to open the Terrapin Invitational. However, her steady performance on the mound didn’t carry over in the doubleheader. Madison Knight and Jackie Pengel gave up eight hits and six walks en route to a 6-3 defeat to Maryland (7-9, Big Ten), Syracuse’s first in over a decade.

Verni silenced five of the first six Fairfield hitters she faced, quickly opening the game for SU’s offense by retiring the Stags in order. It matched the energy.

After opening the second inning on a walk, Kendall Gaunt stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Kaimi Tulua’s pinch runner, Peyton Schemmer, got to second under the same circumstances. With two runners in scoring position, Erika Zamora reached first on a fielder’s choice, bringing Gaunt home.

Gabby Lantier stepped up to the plate and laced a two-RBI single to center field to extend Syracuse’s lead to three. She stole second on the next play, and although she never made it home, her effort set the game’s tone. SU would take advantage of any mistake.

The top of the third followed suit. Taylor Davison split the gap between left and center field, driving a double off the wall. It marked her fifth extra-base hit of the year. Vanessa Flores added a single to push Davison to third before Gaunt hit a sacrifice fly to finish the lap.

Down by four runs, Fairfield had no response. It was 0-for-12 at the plate through four innings compared to Syracuse’s 3-for-14. Fairfield’s pitcher, Alyssa Weinberg, closed out the top of the fourth with a shutout frame, but her performance was shaky.

She leaned on a batter interference to get Lantier out and her fielders to take down Jadyn Burney and Harmony Jackson. Lantier’s infraction was accidental. The lefty’s bunt hugged the right foul line and nicked the back of her foot when she took off for first.

The mix-up was enough to change Fairfield’s fortunes.

The Stags’ SJ Mull bunted a single to begin the bottom of the fifth. It was Fairfield’s first hit on Verni, opening the floodgates. Mull advanced to second on the next at-bat. Martina Gutierrez singled to Verni, giving Mull third base.

Then, Sammie Dougherty took her turn. With two outs on the board — Verni struck out both Evelyn Wozniak and Emma Marchese in between the prior two at-bats — she ripped a grounder to second. It slipped through Gaunt’s glove.

SU took the lead by capitalizing on Weinberg’s four walks and a wild pitch earlier. Fairfield had a chance to pounce on Gaunt’s error and cut its deficit to two in a single play.

The Stags nearly matched the Orange at the plate in the final three innings, going 4-for-13. SU only logged one more hit in the same number of at-bats.

That hit came at the start of the sixth inning. Doepking subbed in Kaylee Eubanks — who, before Friday, had never logged a hit in her career — to pinch hit for Gaunt. The result: a shot just over the left-center wall, which extended SU’s lead to 5-2.

The margin proved to be just enough for the Orange. It gave them the edge to survive two Fairfield runs in the bottom of the seventh inning.

SU wouldn’t have such a margin against Maryland.

It similarly set the table early. Knight, who went 0-for-4 against Fairfield, doubled down the left field line to immediately put her team in scoring position. The hit didn’t result in a run, but Knight, starting on the mound, stifled Maryland’s offense with a 1-2-3 first inning to get the Orange back to the plate.

It initially seemed UMD pitcher Elisea Wiegand would respond with the same, as she retired both Grace Weaver and Eubanks in order, but Rose Cano had another thought. Her homer to center field sparked a three-hit barrage from the Orange. Lantier and Burney singled before Jackson ripped her first career double.

Those three runs in the top of the second were SU’s best look all game.

Jackson’s RBI prompted Maryland head coach Lauren Karn to replace Wiegand with Keira Bucher, who entered with an ERA of 1.91. She seemed determined not to let that number rise above two.

SU only had three hits after its three-run second inning: consecutive singles from Madelyn Lopez and Lauren Fox in the top of the fifth and a Burney double to open the sixth. In the meantime, Knight faltered on the mound, allowing seven hits.

While the attempted comeback from Fairfield earlier in the day came in bursts across the fifth and seventh innings, Maryland’s comeback was methodical.

It first got on the board in the bottom of the second, powered by a series of walks and a Matti Benson single. Then, on the first pitch of the fourth frame, UMD’s Anna McGowan blasted a shot over the left field wall to cut the deficit to 3-2.

Syracuse had a cushion, but Lopez and Fox’s singles weren’t enough to widen it.

UMD’s Lauren Caye tripled to open the fifth. When Cornwell singled on the next at-bat, Caye scored on an error. Sammi Woods singled, and Cornwell crossed home on a sacrifice fly. Two walks juiced the bases, and a second throwing error from the Orange plated Woods, turning a one-run lead into a two-run deficit for the Orange.

Burney’s aforementioned double in the top of the sixth was the last breath of life for SU. Pengel relieved Knight, but the Terrapins still loaded the bases and notched one in the penultimate frame.

The question of whether SU’s pitching can reproduce its 2025 season has hung over the team across its 13-run drubbing to then-No. 12 South Carolina, its 14-run thrashing to then-No. 2 Texas and its nine-run mercy rule loss to Ohio State.

Against Fairfield, it seemed Verni answered the question, but Maryland proved the inquiry remains open.

Published on February 27, 2026 at 8:40 pm
Contact Peter: peterhradosh@gmail.com