Syracuse beats Providence 8-5 in 7th inning comeback, earns 10th win
Riding a five-run seventh inning, Syracuse came back from a two-run deficit to defeat Providence 8-5 Sunday in College Park, Maryland. Angelina Grevi | Daily Orange File Photo
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Syracuse-Providence was once a storied matchup.
A near-annual game, the two hadn’t played in almost 13 years. The last time was a 9-4 win for the Orange that marked SU’s last Big East victory and closed a four-year chapter where the Orange enjoyed two conference championships and three NCAA Tournament berths.
SU debuted in the Atlantic Coast Conference the next year and hasn’t reached similar heights. The Orange have had only one winning conference record — 2-1 during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season — and have yet to make the national tournament.
Facing its old foe, Sunday’s matchup was more reminiscent of the Big East days. Syracuse (10-6, Atlantic Coast) defeated Providence (4-10, Big East) 8-5 in a back-and-forth affair for its final game of the Terrapin Invitational. Madison Knight’s sixth-inning solo homer and Madelyn Lopez’s season-high 3-for-4 performance set the table, but Gabby Lantier’s three-RBI triple in the seventh finished the job.
The SU bats got to work from the outset.
Riding a Jadyn Burney leadoff triple —— her career first —— Madison Knight laced an RBI double down the left field line to make the first noise. Madelyn Lopez pushed Knight to third with a ground single up the center, then got herself in scoring position by stealing second on the next at-bat. Providence pitcher Alannah Hopkins limited the damage to one and got the Friars out of the hot seat.
SU pitcher Julianna Verni wasted no time in the bottom of the first, giving up only an isolated double from Cameron Dunn —— who, despite finishing 1-for-3, proved to be Verni’s kryptonite —— getting the Orange back on offense.
Nifty baserunning from Lauren Fox nearly put her in scoring position early in the top of the second. The sophomore beat Dunn’s throw from second to first for a single, before stealing second.
However, Fox’s foot left the bag too early, and the mistake resulted in an out. Syracuse recovered its scoring position with an Erika Zamora walk and Gabby Lantier’s fielder’s choice at first. Burney doubled SU’s lead with a single up the middle. But Harmony Jackson’s subsequent strikeout spelled the end of the frame.
Through the first two frames, Providence went 1-for-6 at the plate compared to the Orange’s 5-for-10. Lopez bumped that tally to six at the top of the third. Although SU’s hitters left her stranded, giving Hopkins her first of three scoreless innings, the momentum still leaned toward Orange.
But not for long.
PC’s Dominique Gallardo kicked off the bottom of the third with a single, before Verni walked Emily Jonte to put the Friars in scoring position. Gabriella Lee’s bunt single drove in a run and pushed Jonte to third. Her subsequent second base steal served to pile on the pressure.
With Dunn up, a defensive meeting at the mound yielded an intentional walk, but it was to no avail. Brianna De La Fuente’s grounder evaded a diving Fox. Jonte and Lee rounded the bases, and the Friars took a 3-2 lead, their first of the game.
The game dried in the fourth and fifth. Both teams’ pitchers, Verni and Hopkins, retired their opposing batters in order through the frames.
But when Dunn met Verni for their third duel, on two outs in the fifth inning, Syracuse head coach Shannon Doepking put in Knight for relief.
For the most part, Verni had won the pitching battle. She struck out five to Hopkins’ three, and gave up just four hits to Hopkins’ nine, but Dunn’s double in the first was enough to warrant a change.
Knight struck out Dunn to end the fifth and promptly swapped her mitt for a bat, whacking a homer over the left-field fence to open the penultimate frame. Lopez followed with a double, but her pinch runner, Mackenzie Knight, was picked off when she tried to advance. A Kaimi Tulua strikeout and Burney ground out, which sandwiched the pick-off, ended SU’s hopes for a sixth inning rally.
On the back of their escape, the Friars answered with a two-run rally of their own, courtesy of a Sofia Peterson single and De La Fuente double. It erased the tie Knight had earned, and the Orange went into the seventh inning down 5-3.
Providence’s closer, Grace Brooks, walked Taylor Davison to start the frame, then Knight tacked on a base hit. Lopez reached first on a fielding error. With the bases loaded, Kaimi Tulua, who finished last season with a batting average of .325 and a slugging percentage of .450, eyed an RBI.
Instead, SU’s comeback arrived in a more expected manner. Brooks plunked both Tulua and Zamora after her with pitches, leveling the game for SU.
Providence put Hopkins back in, but Lantier had something else to say. With a teammate on each bag, Lantier, who was 0-for-1 at the time, lined a triple into the right-center gap, scoring all three runners. Though they had one more chance at the plate, the Friars couldn’t surmount the Orange’s 8-5 lead.
Knight put Lee, Dunn and Peterson away, ending SU’s time in Maryland.
