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Versus Louisiana-Monroe, Taylor Posner stepped to the plate in the top of the third inning with the bases loaded and two outs. Posner was used to this situation, as she started the scoring in game one against Evansville. She came up big yet again, lining a single down the left field line to drive in two runs for the Orange, which gave them an early 2-0 lead.

Posner didn’t stop there. After Louisiana-Monroe answered back an inning later with a home run, she rose to the occasion. In the top of the fifth, Posner took Victoria Abrams’ 1-0 pitch over the left-center wall, increasing SU’s lead to three, for her sixth and seventh RBIs across the two games.

In its second straight weekend in Louisiana, Syracuse competed Friday in Monroe, LA. in the Best of the Bayou Classic. The Orange (8-3, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) began the weekend by sweeping their Friday doubleheader. SU dominated Evansville (0-9, 0-0 Missouri Valley) 10-0 in five innings and defeated Louisiana-Monroe (9-5, 0-0 Sun Belt) 6-1.

In the weekend’s first game against Evansville, Madison Knight started on the mound for SU versus Elle Jarrett. The two dominated the first two innings but in the third inning, the Orange generated a two-out rally, which put runners on first and second. Posner then delivered a three-run home run to center field for Syracuse.

Knight handled Evansville easily in the bottom half of the third, quickly giving Syracuse’s offense time to add on. The Orange stayed hot, with Rebecca Clyde leading off the fourth with a double. Vanessa Flores drove her in on the next pitch and Knight added more support for herself with an RBI groundout. Madelyn Lopez hammered the very next pitch to deep center for a sacrifice fly, and Angel Jasso drove in the fourth run of the inning on her double to the right-center gap. Syracuse ended its four-run inning with a 7-0 lead.

The fifth inning brought more runs for SU. Pinch hitter Peyton Schemmer walked, and then Clyde scored her on a double. With two outs and runners on second and third, Lopez brought in two more runs with a single. The Orange tallied 10 runs in just three innings. In the bottom of the frame, Jessie DiPasquale struck out the side.

The offensive onslaught combined with Knight’s four-inning, six-strikeout performance was the perfect storm for an easy 10-0 Syracuse win over Evansville in five innings — the second five-inning victory for SU in 2024.

The second game of the day began similar to Syracuse’s first. Neither team could get anything going for the first two innings, as Lindsey Hendrix and Abrams started strong.

Syracuse drew first blood in the third, as it loaded the bases with just one out. Jasso’s flyout set up Posner for a two-run single, for her fourth and fifth RBIs of the day. The ensuing threat would be eliminated when Clyde grounded out to first. Still, SU held a 2-0 lead.

Louisiana-Monroe would strike back an inning later. Freshman Morgan Brown hit the ball to the perfect spot on the field and used her speed to round the bases for an inside-the-park home run.

SU once again quickly countered. Lopez began with a single and advanced to second on an error by Lourdes Bacon in left field. Then, Posner hit her second home run of the day and extended the lead to three. Following a Clyde walk, Flores hit a double, scoring Clyde. A sacrifice fly in the sixth from Jasso ballooned the lead to five.

The 6-1 lead would be plenty for Hendrix, as she controlled the game with ease. Hendrix finished her 5.1 innings with one run on just three hits while walking one and striking out two.

Published on February 23, 2024 at 10:09 pm

Contact Nick: nsjepson@syr.edu