Syracuse trounces Boston College 16-2 for 4th straight win
The Orange scored a season-high 16 runs against Boston College. Leonardo Eriman | Assistant Photo Editor
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Heading into last week, Syracuse was free falling. After being outscored 25-2 in a three-game sweep against Virginia, the Orange found themselves in a familiar position at the basement of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
However, since that abysmal series sweep, SU headed into Saturday having won three straight games for the first time since March 1. Following a doubleheader sweep over Albany on Wednesday, Syracuse downed Boston College 7-1 Friday behind a marquee showing from Madison Knight. The Orange’s two-way phenom tossed a one-run complete game while also going 3-for-3 at the plate.
When SU squared off with BC again on Saturday, it looked to win consecutive ACC contests for the first time all season. SU did just that in dramatic fashion. The Orange (26-19, 5-15 ACC) thrashed the Eagles (21-25, 5-16 ACC) 16-2, scoring in each inning to run-rule the Eagles in the fifth.
“I credit (our shift in momentum) to knowing that this could be our last few weeks and nobody wanting to go home,” Syracuse outfielder Taylor Posner said.
Knight took the mound again after her dominant eight-strikeout performance on Friday. The junior entered the afternoon with a 3.53 earned run average, the third-best mark among SU starters.
After BC second baseman Emma Jackson led off the first with a fly out, shortstop Gator Robinson doubled sharply down the left field line. Though catcher Hannah Slike laced a single into left field for a single, Robinson remained at second with one out.
She wouldn’t get a chance to cross the plate. Knight induced a line out and a pop out from Jordan Stephens and Zoe Hines to end the frame.
For the second straight game, Boston College starting pitcher Kelly Colleran couldn’t make it out of the second inning. On Friday, the Orange trounced her for five runs on six hits in just an inning and a third. Saturday was a similar story, as she surrendered eight runs in less than two innings.
With one out and nobody on base, Syracuse shortstop Jadyn Burney executed her bunt effectively for a single. After Burney stole second and third, designated hitter Vanessa Flores hit a sacrifice fly to give SU a 1-0 lead.
Knight’s second inning was smoother, as she retired three-out-of-four BC batters. The lone blemish of the frame was a double into left field by Eagles’ third baseman Janis Espinoza, which just escaped a diving catch attempt by SU’s Gabby Lantier.
Following their relatively quiet first inning, the Orange exploded for seven runs in the second — its most runs in a game since scoring nine in 10 innings against North Carolina.
With runners on first and second and no outs, SU second baseman Angie Ramos singled to score pinch-runner Sophia Taliaferro after an errant throw from BC. Syracuse catcher Laila Morales-Alves then drilled a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Knight and extending the lead to 3-0.
After Flores’ two-out bases-loaded walk brought Syracuse’s lead to 4-0, Posner capped the inning with a grand slam over the center field fence, scoring Lopez, Burney and Lantier. Colleran was immediately removed from the game, with BC head coach Amy Kvilhaug resorting to reliever Gabriella Aughton.
Desperately searching for a pulse down 8-0, Jackson dribbled a slow-roller down the first-base line for a single. Two batters later, Slike’s hard-hit double down the left-field line put the Eagles in striking distance with runners on second and third.
However, a force out and comebacker to Knight ended the inning, as the Eagles left multiple runners on base again.
Syracuse’s scoring barrage didn’t slow down in the third, as it tagged Aughton for three runs despite recording just one hit.
While Aughton walked Knight to begin the inning, she retired Ramos and third baseman Kelly Breen soon after. With Knight advancing to third, BC’s wild pitch allowed her to steal home to boost SU’s lead to 9-0. After Lopez laced a single down the left-field line, Eagles’ pitcher Shannon Macleod entered the game to stem the bleeding.
It didn’t help matters. Burney’s well-placed single to right scored pinch-runner Taylor Davison from second, bringing the score to 10-0.
Down 0-2 in the count with two runners on, Flores’ ensuing drive to right field snuck over the fence for a three-run homer. The Orange erupted out of the dugout, crowding around the designated hitter as she rounded third and headed home.
As the Eagles trailed 13-0 in the top of the fourth inning, pinch-hitter Abby Ptak provided their lone offensive spark of the day. Her two-run homer to left center trimmed the deficit to 11.
Singles by Morales-Alves and Lopez ballooned Syracuse’s lead to 16-2, and reliever Julianna Verni pitched a scoreless fifth inning to seal the Orange’s fourth consecutive victory.
“I think it’s knowing that we can (succeed offensively),” Posner said. “It showed today, as we scored so many just knowing that we have the bats and skill to do it.”
