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Kaia Oliver put out the first seven batters she faced in the relief position for the Orange. But Louisville got in a groove in the fourth inning, landing runners on the corners and two outs in a tie game.

Oliver had two strikes on Louisville’s Jenna Servi when she lost control of a fastball that sailed over catcher Laila Alves’ glove. This let Cardinal freshman Dylann Cravens run home and break the tie, which ended up being the winning score.

Syracuse (20-18, 3-13 Atlantic Coast) fell to Louisville (24-17, 8-7 Atlantic Coast) for the third time this weekend. The Orange have now been swept in four of their last five ACC series. But Sunday’s game was the closest they’ve gotten to knocking off Louisville, as they had a chance down one run in the seventh inning.

Louisville’s Taylor Roby got the start for the Cardinals for the second time this weekend. She had a rocky start as Syracuse’s first two batters got on base with a walk and a Cravens fielding error at second base. The Orange weren’t able to capitalize, though, as they scored no runs and left two runners on base.

Like Friday, Louisville got going early with two runs in the opening inning. Ariana Adams was able to quickly put out two batters, but Carmyn Greenwood ended up on second after a walk and a fielder’s choice. Then, Cardinals catcher Kendall Smith launched a ball to deep left field past Olivia Pess, and Greenwood ran home.

Adams pelted Hannah File with a pitch and threw another past the catcher on the next at bat. This put File and Smith in scoring position when Cravens made her way to the batter’s box. Cravens found a hole in shallow right field, and Smith scored to put the Cardinals up 2-0. Adams caught Vanessa Miller swinging on a 1-2 pitch to retire the side.

Syracuse fired back immediately as Geana Torres dropped a ball in front of Miller in right field for a single. Then, Ally Alexander fumbled a choppy Pess grounder, and runners were safe at first and second. Rebecca Clyde laid down a sacrifice bunt and was thrown out at first, but Pess and Torres were now both in scoring position.

After a shaky first inning, head coach Shannon Doepking put in Oliver for Adams to start the second. She put away seven batters in a row, but Cravens broke that streak in the fourth inning on a perfectly placed bunt that Oliver couldn’t reach in time to throw her out at first. Miller followed that up by dropping a single in front of Pess in left field.

The Cardinals got runners on the corners after a fielder’s choice on an Alexander ground ball to second base. That’s when Oliver threw a pitch over Alves’ head and Cravens sprinted home to give the Cardinals a 3-2 lead.

Both offenses cooled down after that play as there was only one hit the rest of the game. Oliver bounced back and put out seven of the next eight Louisville batters. Syracuse had a chance to even the game in the top of the seventh.

Although Roby got the first two Orange batters out, she walked Tessa Galipeau and the tying run was on first. Doepking put in Angie Ramos to pinch run for her, but Neli Casares-Maher hit a routine grounder to third base to end the game.

Angel Jasso recorded the only RBI of the contest for Syracuse on that liner to left field, but neither of those two runs were earned. Aside from the wild pitch that led to the winning run, Oliver filled in well for Adams after she struggled in the first. She only allowed three hits on 18 batters.

Published on April 17, 2022 at 4:34 pm

Contact Matthew: mahassan@syr.edu