No. 15 Kentucky crushes Syracuse, 13-0, in 5 innings
Facing the No. 15 team in the nation, Syracuse head coach Shannon Doepking opted to not start her two best pitchers, instead sending SU’s third pitcher, Miranda Hearn, to the mound.
Before the end of the first inning, Doepking pulled Hearn. She had recorded just one out and allowed three hits, two walks and five earned runs. Syracuse put pitcher Sophie Dandola to the mound, who came in to finish the first, but the Orange were in a hole they never recovered from. No. 15 Kentucky (17-7) defeated Syracuse (8-14), 13-0, in just five innings, marking the sixth time this season SU lost in a shortened game.
Syracuse squandered an opening double from Gabby Teran with back-to-back groundouts and a Hannah Dossett strikeout. Then, the Wildcats’ barrage began. The first three UK batters reached base, the third driving in the opening run. Then, Katie Reed doubled in two more runs to push the lead to three. Doepking pulled Hearn for Dandola, but Dandola surrendered two more runs on two more walks with the runs being charged to Hearn’s stat line.
Mallory Peyton hit a double in the second to bring it in a run, and Dandola was charged with a fielding error that brought in the seventh run of the game. The SU offense continued to sputter with runners in scoring position in the third inning, wasting the bases loaded with just one out as Dossett struck out and Alex Acevedo lined out to centerfield.
The Kentucky half of the third began with three doubles and a single, driving Syracuse deeper into its hole. The fourth of those hits, an Abbey Cheek single, drove in two more runs to push the lead to double digits. Reed then homered later in the inning to make the Wildcats reach a dozen runs.
Kayla Kowalik added one more run to the UK total on a sacrifice fly in the fourth, and a Dossett pop up in the top of the fifth ended the game. Syracuse had nine base runners and two extra-base hits, but none scored. On the afternoon, UK had 30 batters come to the plate. 13 of them scored, 18 reached base safely and only one struck out.
Syracuse begins conference play this weekend with a three-game series at Louisville, with the first game beginning at 3 p.m. on Friday.
