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Neli Casares-Maher was already having a great day when she stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the first in Wednesday’s second game against Canisius. Fresh off a nail-biting loss where she hit a home run, Casares-Maher faced a 2-2 count with runners on the corners.

Casares-Maher smashed an outside pitch from Golden Griffins pitcher Toria Kover over the center field fence and off the scoreboard for a three-run homer to put Syracuse up 3-0, a lead the Orange turned into a mercy-rule victory.

Syracuse (20-15, 3-10 Atlantic Coast) split its midweek doubleheader with Canisius (16-15, 5-3 Metro Atlantic). The Orange lost the first game 4-3, finishing one run short of sending the game to extras. But Syracuse’s offense exploded in the second matchup as it defeated the Golden Griffins 12-1 in just 4.5 innings, ending SU’s three-game losing streak.

Summer Clark started the opening game for the Orange and immediately faced pressure as a Kelly Breen fielding error and a walk put runners on first and second. Then, Canisius’ Destiny Falquez hit a double that sent Erin Hufford home and moved Christie McGee-Ross to third. Then Gianna Fazzolari poked a single to shallow left field and another run scored. She then stole second to put two runners in scoring position for Lindsi Dennis.

Dennis hit a deep sacrifice fly to right field that Angel Jasso caught, Falquez easily scored another run. Then, Tiara Johnson singled up the middle to send Fazzolari home and Canisius was quickly up 4-0.

That forced head coach Shannon Doepking to replace Clark with Ariana Adams as the game got out of hand early. Adams ended the first inning with a strikeout and an easy pop up to left field. No Syracuse players or coaches were made available to The D.O. postgame on Wednesday.

But the Orange responded quickly as Jasso immediately hit a hard ground ball up the right side of the infield. She then stole second and ran to third on a wild pitch by Canisius’ Shealyn Ollison. Tessa Galipeau got on base after Dennis dropped a routine groundout at first base. Breen then grounded out to first, but Galipeau advanced to second and Jasso scored to cut the lead to 4-1.

A series of wild pitches left the Orange with two runners in scoring position, but they couldn’t capitalize as Casares-Maher and Laila Alves were both put out.

Both teams left runners on base in the second and Adams threw a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the third. In the bottom of the third, Syracuse’s got on base early as Ollison hit Galipeau with a pitch. Casares-Maher followed it up with a two-run home run and the Orange were only down one run.

Neither team scored through the rest of the game as Canisius held onto its 4-3 lead. Still, Adams only gave up four hits on 24 at-bats.

Lindsey Hendrix started the second game for the Orange and recorded three straight outs. Then, a Jasso double and Galipeau single put runners on first and third in the bottom of the first. This set up Casares-Maher’s three-run home run that bounced off the scoreboard.

Canisius’ Rosie Gomez responded by hitting a home run on a 3-2 pitch that went at least 10 yards beyond the center-field fence. But Hendrix fired back by catching three straight Golden Griffin batters swinging.

No runs were scored until Syracuse regained its stride in the bottom of the fourth. Carli Campbell and Paris Woods recorded singles on balls driven past infielders. Then, Kover walked Galipeau on four pitches to load up the bases.

Breen hit a line drive up the middle that sent two runners home and forced the Golden Griffins to make a pitching change. Kate Wiggins came into the game and immediately forced a Casares-Maher infield pop out for the second out, leaving runners on first and second for Jude Padilla.

Padilla hit a rocket down the third base line that left fielder Sam Weber had to scramble to chase down, a sequence that lasted long enough for another two runs to score, allowing Padilla to remain safe at second base. Yamila Evans then hit a grounder to the shortstop, but was fast enough to run it out to first. But Gomez dropped the throw at first base which sent Evans to second and Padilla home.

A pair of well-placed singles by Ryan Gallegos and Campbell allowed Evans to score on a tight throw that Canisius catcher Hanna Hagerman dropped. After Woods was hit by a pitch to load up the bases once again, Jasso hit a bases clearing triple that sailed down the right field line and touched the outfield fence. This put the Orange up 12-1 and well within the mercy rule.

Hendrix then shut down three batters in a row and the Orange secured the win without getting a fifth turn at the plate.

Published on April 13, 2022 at 8:11 pm

Contact Matthew: mahassan@syr.edu