Syracuse tennis splits pair of road games; Orange softball goes 1-4 at Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic

Syracuse (5-6, 2-1) traveled to Illinois for a battle with two top-75 foes, splitting the two matches on a defining road trip. Entering the weekend, the Orange had lost all four of their matches on the road, and looked to change pace in the Prairie State.

It started against No. 34 Illinois on Friday, when it trounced the Orange 6-1. Illinois won all of the doubles points, taking two of three matches with the final match ending unfinished.

The Fighting Illini carried their domination into the singles matches, as they took five of the six points. Maddie Kobelt was the only member of the Orange to win her singles match, triumphing 6-7, 6-2, 6-4.

The Orange defeated No. 69 DePaul 4-3 on Sunday to claim its first road win of the season. The win halted the Blue Demons’ nine-game winning streak. The win was also the first time in six tries Syracuse has defeated a ranked opponent.

It took SU everything it had to escape with a win, as the match came down to a tiebreaker set in the final singles match to defeat DePaul. Amanda Rodgers pulled out the win 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-4) over Patricia Fargas, with each set ending in a tiebreaker.

The two sides split the singles competition overall, with Jimena Wu and Breanna Bachini coming away with victories.

The doubles point gave the Orange the advantage in a close match. Kobelt and Brittany Lashway came away with an 8-5 win in their first appearance together as a doubles tandem. Aleah Marrow and Komal Safdar won their doubles match 8-6 in their second appearance as a tandem.

Syracuse has three weeks off before returning to the Drumlins Center on March 17 to face Princeton. The Orange looks to continue its success at home, where it’s 4-0 this season.

Softball

Struggling to find a groove at the plate, Syracuse emerged from the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic with just one win and a 4-5 record on the season.

The tournament, which took place in Palm Springs, Calif. featured a five-game slate featuring Florida, San Diego State, Colorado State, Stanford and Long Beach State, and ended with SU picking up a single win against Colorado. Entering the tournament, SU hoped the Big East-level competition in tournament play would ready the team for the brunt of its season.

SU finished the tournaments first day without a win, dropping its opening game against Florida 5-1. The Gators capitalized on three Syracuse fielding errors in the fourth and fifth innings Friday, scoring four runs during that span. Sophomore Mary Dombrowski crossed home plate on a run batted in by freshman Shirley Daniels, but the run wasn’t enough to stave off Florida in the closing innings.

In the following game, Syracuse went scoreless against San Diego 3-0, despite an opening sequence that placed senior Veronica Grant , Dombrowski and junior Jasmine Watson in scoring position. SU struggled to convert hits into runs throughout the contest, as eight runs were left on base by game’s end.

Saturday proved more forgiving for SU, as the team edged Colorado State 4-2 on a strong fourth-inning performance at the plate. A succession of runs came across the plate, mounting a deficit what would be too much for Colorado to overcome.

On Sunday, Stanford’s pitching posed a problem for Syracuse, who lost 1-2. Syracuse continued to struggle into the afternoon, falling to Long Beach State 7-6 in the day’s second matchup. Syracuse was 1-4 on the weekend.

SU’s next opportunity to rebound will be at the Citrus Classic-ESPN Rise this weekend, where Louisiana State, Boston College, Longwood University, the University of Texas and Mississippi State await.

– Compiled by The Daily Orange Sports staff