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Syracuse trailed by three with two outs in the top of the seventh inning and Madison Knight was on base for the Orange. Still looking for her first hit of the game, Kelly Breen was SU’s last hope to start any comeback. Instead, she recorded the third SU groundout of the inning, finishing the game.

After Syracuse (8-9, 0-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) opened its ACC schedule with back-to-back losses to No. 6 Duke (16-1, 3-0 ACC) on Saturday, the Blue Devils finished the series sweep with a 3-0 win over the Orange. The loss marked the first time since 2005 that the Orange were shut out for three straight games.

The Orange lost by a combined score of 13-0 in their first two games Saturday, only eking out five hits against pitchers Jala Wright and Cassidy Curd. In the third and final game of its opening series against its ACC rival, SU needed to find a way to break the shutout streak.

Angel Jasso laced a leadoff single up the middle then stole second base. Taylor Posner hit a line drive, but it was caught in the outfield. Rebecca Clyde struck out and an Olivia Pess groundout extended SU’s scoring drought to 15 innings.

Duke wasted no time jumping out to an early lead. After Ana Gold hammered a single to left field and Claire Davidson walked, an Aminah Vega groundout advanced the runners to second and third. The Blue Devils then loaded the bases after Knight hit Kelly Torres with a pitch. As they had done on Saturday, Duke took advantage. Gisele Tapia pulled a triple down the right field line that cleared the bases to give the Blue Devils a 3-0 lead in the first.

The Orange were able to hold the Blue Devils off for the rest of the game. While both lineups exchanged hits and got runners on base, the pitching and defense on both SU and Duke were lights out. Knight surrendered four hits while Wright and Lillie Walker gave up just three.

At the top of the seventh, the Orange needed to drum up some offense. Tessa Galipeau and Laila Morales-Alves laced groundballs that were easily taken care of by the Blue Devils infield. With two outs, Knight smacked a single to center field and gave the Orange just their fifth hit of the contest. But a third groundball, this time by Breen, allowed Duke to hand Syracuse its sixth consecutive loss.

Published on March 3, 2024 at 4:39 pm

Contact Matthew: mgray06@syr.edu