Syracuse struggles in series-opening loss to Boston College
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With Syracuse down 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning, Madison Knight stepped up to the plate with one out. Off of Abby Dunning’s third pitch, Knight sent a bullet into the left-center field gap for a double.
This brought Laila Alves, and a chance to notch the potential game-tying run, to the plate. After working the count full, Dunning’s payoff pitch hit Alves, giving the Orange runners on first and second base with one out.
Next, Taylor Posner stepped into the batter’s box. Posner worked the count to 3-1 but didn’t take advantage. Instead, Posner chopped a ground ball right to Abigail Knight, who stepped on third base and then fired across the diamond barely nabbing Posner for a game-sealing double play.
“When you swing at pitches that are tough to hit, you’re going to have a long day and that’s what we had,” head coach Shannon Doepking told CitrusTV.
After compiling two hits and five base runners throughout the game, Syracuse (23-23-1, 7-13-1 Atlantic Coast) lost 4-2 to Boston College (22-28, 4-18 Atlantic Coast). Syracuse’s offense faltered today, failing to have a runner reach base in four of the game’s seven innings. Even when there were runners on base, the Orange failed to come through with a big hit.
Leading off the game, Nicole Giery hit a bullet into left field. The next batter, Abigail Knight, worked a full-count walk against Madison Knight, bringing Hannah Slike to the plate.
Knight jumped ahead in the count 0-2, but she couldn’t deliver a putaway pitch. After falling behind in the count, Slike battled and fought off two pitches. On the fifth pitch of the at bat, though, Slike sliced a sinking fly ball into right field, just out of the reach of a diving Maddelyn Lopez.
As a result, Giery scored from second base and Knight advanced to third base, beating Lopez’s throw to the bag. On Lopez’s throw, Slike advanced to second base. Knight struck out the ensuing batter, Meghan Schouten, for the first out of the inning, bringing up Aleyah Terrell.
With the infield in, Knight forced Terrell to hit a weak grounder to Rebecca Clyde at third base. Clyde threw across the diamond, getting Terrell out at first base. However, after Clyde released the ball, Knight perfectly timed a run to home and beat Tessa Galipeau’s throw to the plate. Boston College took a 2-0 lead.
While Boston College’s offense was clicking early on, so was Dunning in the circle. Dunning retired all six batters she faced through her first two innings pitched. However, leading off the bottom of the third inning, Posner smoked an opposite field double into left-center field, giving the Orange its first base runner of the day.
With Posner on second base and no outs, Clyde skied a routine fly ball to right field. Despite getting under the ball, Slike couldn’t make the play. On the error, Posner scored – cutting Boston College’s lead in half – and Clyde advanced to second base.
Looking to further advance Clyde, Ryan Starr successfully poked a slow grounder to the third baseman, Knight. While Clyde moved to third, Starr was thrown out at first base for the first out of the inning.
The next batter, Galipeau, slapped a grounder to Giery at shortstop, but the infield was playing in regular depth, allowing Clyde to score the tying run.
With the game tied 2-2, Knight lofted a double down the right field line with one out in the top of the fifth inning. Lindsey Hendrix – who replaced Madison Knight in the circle in the fourth inning – quickly retired Slike for the second out, but she couldn’t get out of the inning unscathed.
Schouten, the Eagles’ cleanup hitter, jumped ahead in the count 2-1. Trying to avoid falling further behind in the count, Hendrix threw a strike which caught too much of the plate. Schouten didn’t miss it, sending a booming two-out, two-run homer to dead center field giving Boston College a 4-2 lead.
In the bottom half of the inning, Syracuse didn’t respond. Instead, Dunning worked her fourth 1-2-3 inning of the game. After Hendrix held Boston College scoreless in the sixth inning, Syracuse’s offense was again held silent. Lopez worked a two-out walk, but one pitch later Angel Jasso grounded out to end the inning.
After quickly retiring Maddy Carpe and Kali Case, it seemed as if Hendrix was going to cruise through the top of the seventh inning.
On the first pitch she saw, Giery laced a single into left field. The next batter, Knight, kept the line moving with another single bringing up Slike. Against Slike, Hendrix completely lost her control, leading to a four-pitch walk that loaded the bases for Schouten.
As she did in her previous at bat, Schouten looked to cause damage. On Hendrix’s 1-1 pitch, though, Schouten hit the ball weakly off the end of her bat right to Clyde ending the inning.
In the bottom half of the inning, Syracuse couldn’t tie or take the lead despite having two runners on base with one out.
“(The) offense was not (good) and the pitching was not (good),” Doepking told CitrusTV. “You need two facets of the game to win ballgames.”
