Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

Syracuse held a close two run lead in the top of the seventh of its first game of the day against Coppin State. With runners on first and second, freshman Angie Ramos sent a line drive over Eagles’ pitcher Vanessa Carrizosa’s head and right up the middle into shallow center. Ryan Gallegos sprinted all the way home to put the Orange up 5-2.

This was the start of an offensive tear for Syracuse, one that would continue into the second game of the afternoon. Syracuse (13-9, 1-5 Atlantic Coast) bested Coppin State (0-16, 0-0) in both games of Wednesday’s doubleheader, winning 7-3 and then 13-3.

The first game was competitive throughout, but Syracuse separated in the top of the seventh. Syracuse exploded for 10 runs in the third inning of the second matchup and mercied Coppin State in five innings.

The scoring for the Orange started in the second inning with runners on the corners. Catcher Laila Alves put down a sneaky bunt along the third base line that allowed Taylor Posner to run home from third. But, Coppin State fired back in the bottom of the inning with an Avianna Peterson solo shot to left field off pitcher Summer Clark.

The tie was short lived after Kelly Breen hit a rope up the middle that sent Tessa Galipeau and Neli Casares-Maher home, giving Syracuse a 3-1 lead. Posner then hit a hard grounder between the shortstop and third base. Breen crept to second on that play and to third on a Ramos fly out to deep right field. Then, Alves got her second RBI off a single that slid past the Eagles’ shortstop to bring Breen home.

Syracuse sported this 4-1 lead until the end of the fourth inning. Pitcher Ariana Adams came in for Clark in the fourth and struck out her first batter. Coppin State’s Shawnee Ronyak made her way to the batter’s box with runners on first and third and two outs. She carefully dropped a ball in shallow center and Peterson ran home to cut the lead to 4-2.

Both teams recorded no runs in the fifth and sixth innings with Ramos recording the only hit. She hit a single up the middle in the top of the seventh and extended the Orange lead to three. After Ramos stole second and Carrizosa walked Alves, Olivia Pess hit a liner up the middle that sent two runners home.

Although Coppin State did manage to load up the bases and score a run, the comeback stopped there and the Orange took the first game 7-3.

Syracuse’s offensive success spilled over to the first inning of the next game. On the first at-bat, Eagles pitcher Kayleigh Reome hit Casares-Maher with a pitch. A few batters later, Breen sent a ball over the left field fence to give the Orange an early 2-0 lead.

At the top of the third, Syracuse scored ten runs in the inning. It kicked off with two straight Coppin State errors that set up runners on first and second. Angel Jasso and Posner then hit two consecutive deep shots to the outfield that put the score at 5-0.

Reome walked Galipeau and gave up a single to Carli Campbell which loaded the bases. Ramos then hit a single to right field that sent Breen home. Jude Padilla followed that up by hitting a deep sacrifice fly to right field that Galipeau scored on.

A pair of singles by Pess and Casares-Maher stacked on three more runs and the Orange led 11-0. This sequence prompted Coppin State head coach Ashley Cook to finally take out Reome and put Ronyak at the pitcher’s circle. But Ronyak still needed two outs to retire the side. Although she gave up another run on a Jasso sacrifice fly, she got out of the inning in three batters.

The Eagles didn’t respond until the bottom of the fourth inning. They loaded the bases once as pitcher Jolie Gustave allowed two singles in a row and hit Melanie Aguilera with a pitch. This set up Ronyak to clear the bases on a deep double that sailed past Syracuse defenders in left field. But the score still sat at 12-3.

Syracuse tacked on one more run in the top of the fifth, and Kaia Oliver threw a 1-2-3 inning to impose the mercy rule on Coppin State and end the game.

Breen was the best for the Orange at the plate, going 4-for-8 and recording four RBIs throughout the day. Ramos and Alves each batted in two runs. Syracuse as a whole got 25 hits off the Eagles, while Coppin State only had nine.

Published on March 16, 2022 at 6:53 pm

Contact Matthew: mahassan@syr.edu