Syracuse’s strong batting performance leads to 9-5 win over UNC
Syracuse’s (9-10, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) batting took down North Carolina to tie the weekend’s three-game series with a 9-5 win on Saturday afternoon. The Orange fell behind early but climbed back into the game, thanks to a three-run home run by Gabby Teran, which gave them the lead in the fifth. Syracuse held on from there, with Catie Dobbs silencing the Tar Heels’ (9-12, 3-2) offense after taking over for Kaia Oliver early in the game.
The Orange took the early lead in the second inning, scoring two runs on a pair of wild pitches through Rebecca Clyde and Paris Woods.
UNC responded in the bottom of the second, scoring all five of their runs in the inning. A sacrifice fly and bunt knotted up the game at two and an RBI single from Destiny Middleton gave UNC the lead. Campbell Hutcherson scored two more with an RBI single, ending Oliver’s day in the circle.
A three-hit third inning inched Syracuse closer as they cut the lead to 5-3. Toni Martin’s RBI single drove home Mia Cunnings for her 11th run batted in this season.
The score remained the same until the fifth inning when Syracuse broke through. Lailoni Mayfield and Clyde each singled to put two runners on for Teran, who crushed her fourth home run this season over the left-field fence after falling behind in the count 0-2. It gave the Orange a 6-5 lead, shifting the momentum of the entire game. Teran reached base four times in the game from the leadoff spot.
Neli Casares-Maher led off the sixth inning with a solo shot of her own to give Syracuse some insurance. It was her second home run of the season and the shortstop is the Orange’s leading hitter, posting a .304 batting average thus far. Jamie Gregg padded the lead in the seventh with a 2-RBI single to give her sole possession of Syracuse’s RBI lead (13) and pushed the lead to 9-5.
Meanwhile, Dobbs was cruising through the UNC batting order en route to her second win on the season. The freshman’s ERA dipped to 2.33 after an outing where she threw five shutout innings, striking out four and allowing just two hits. The performance slots her just outside the ACC top-10 for ERA leaders.
The Orange recorded 13 hits in the game, with four batters collecting multiple hits. Clyde was 3-4 with three runs scored in a much-needed offensive outburst. She had entered the game with just one hit in her past 24 at-bats. Gregg, Casares-Maher, and Mayfield also had multi-hit games in the victory for Syracuse.