After taking three losses last week, the Syracuse Orange looked to turn things around in UCLA's tournament this weekend.
In the first game of the weekend the Orange played the Roadrunners from CSU Bakersfield. This game was all Syracuse early on and that did not change at any point. In the top of the second inning Andrea Bombace kicked off the scoring by sending a ball over the left field wall to give the Orange the early 1-0 lead. In the next inning Sydney O'Hara increased the lead to 3-0 when she hit a two-run home run to center field bringing in Maddi Doane. In the fourth inning Sammy Fernandez reached base on an error that allowed for Danielle Chitkowski to score to give Syracuse a four run lead. In the fifth inning, Corinne Ozanne hit her second home run of the season to give SU the 5-0 lead, and in the seventh inning Hannah Dossett hit a sacrifice fly to score Kelsey Johnson and give the Orange a 6-0 lead. This would go on to be the final score in this one. Pitching for the Orange in this one was Jocelyn Cater (4-3). Cater picked up her second complete game victory this year (her first complete game shutout on the season) and struck out four while only allowing three hits to help improve SU's record to 7-7.
In their second game on Friday, Syracuse took the field against the CSUN Matadors. Unlike the first game of the day, the Orange offense was not a big threat in this one. The Orange did manage to put up two runs thanks to a Sammy Fernandez RBI triple and a wild pitch that allowed for Fernandez to score. Other than Fernandez's triple, SU was only able to muster two other hits. AnnaMarie Gatti (3-5) was on the mound for Syracuse in this one and it was a bit of a rough outing for her. In her 1.2 innings of work, Gatti surrendered three runs before being pulled for Jocelyn Cater (4-3). After CSUN took a 3-0 lead in the second, SU put up their two runs to cut lead to one, but the Matadors were not finished scoring. CSUN went on to put up two runs on Cater to give the Matadors a 5-2 lead which would end up being the final score in this one.
In the third game of the weekend SU went up against the UC Davis Aggies. This game was very much a pitcher's duel as both offenses struggled to get runs, in fact there was only one run scored between the two teams. Luckily for the Orange they had the one run. The lone run in this game came in the fifth inning when Maddi Doane hit a RBI single that scored Alyssa Dewes. Jocelyn Cater (5-3) handled pitching duties for Syracuse. Cater was able to pick up her second complete shutout of the weekend and her third complete game victory of the year. She also registered eight strikeouts while only allowing to hits to give the Orange an 8-8 record on the year.
In the final game of the weekend Syracuse faced off against the #13 UCLA Bruins. Pitching dominated this game for a large majority of this game. AnnaMarie Gatti (3-6) was the pitcher for the Orange in this one. She had a shutout going for the first 4.2 innings in this one before Delaney Spaulding hit a two RBI double in the bottom of the fifth. Syracuse would respond with two home runs though. Corinne Ozanne hit a home run in the top of the sixth inning and then Andrea Bombace hit a home run in the top of the seventh inning to tie the score at 2-2. The Orange were on the verge of having the chance to pull off the upset until Allexis Bennett hit a walk off double in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Orange suffered a tough loss in this one, but showed they can compete with one of the nation's top teams.
After the weekend Syracuse's record stands at 8-9. They look to add to the win column next weekend when they head to Chapel Hill to take on the Tar Heels for their first ACC contests of the seasons.