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After being shutout in an 8-0 loss the day before, Syracuse took charge early on Saturday against Louisville. Angel Jasso led the game off with a single and quickly stole second — her team-high 20th stolen base of the year — to get herself into scoring position. Then, with two outs, Kelly Breen singled to send Jasso home and give the Orange an early lead.

But that was the only run Syracuse (20-17, 3-12 Atlantic Coast) scored all afternoon in its 4-1 loss to Louisville (23-17, 7-7 ACC) on Saturday. After the opening frame, the Orange recorded just two more hits, which came in the third inning, throughout the rest of the game.

Sam Booe started on the mound for Louisville, tossing three innings and allowing five hits and one run. But it was Taja Felder who picked up the win after pitching three innings of her own and giving up no hits. The only base runners she allowed came from two walks, one to Tessa Galipeau and one to Rebecca Clyde.

The Orange led 1-0 after the first inning, but Louisville responded against Lindsey Hendrix in the bottom of the second. Hannah File led off with a single to right field, and Ally Alexander turned a bunt into another single shortly after. With two outs, Carmyn Greenwood escaped an 0-2 count after a single to right field, scoring File and tying the game.

The next batter, Korbe Otis, walked to load the bases, giving the Cardinals the chance to break the game open early on with Taylor Roby, Louisville’s home run leader, stepping up to the plate. But Hendrix forced a flyout to center field on the first pitch, neutralizing the threat.

The third inning marked Syracuse’s only prime scoring opportunity after the first inning. Galipeau singled to open the frame, and Laila Alves hit a two-out single to give the Orange a second runner on base. But Jude Padilla struck out swinging to strand them.

With the game tied in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Cardinals got past Hendrix and began to pull away. Jenna Servi singled on the first pitch of the inning, and the next pitch advanced her to second with Greenwood reaching first on an error. Otis then singled to score Servi and give the Cardinals a 2-1 lead.

But Louisville was not done yet as Roby flew out to center a second time, allowing Greenwood to tag up and score to extend the lead. And for the final dagger, Kendall Smith ripped a double to right center for her third hit of the day, scoring Otis and bringing the score to 4-1. At this point, head coach Shannon Doepking brought Kaia Oliver in for Hendrix, who promptly forced a strikeout and a groundout to end the inning.

Hendrix ultimately picked up the loss, bringing her record to 7-5 on the season, allowing three runs, nine hits and a strikeout through 3.1 innings. The nine hits mark a season high, surpassing her eight hits allowed against Notre Dame on April 8.

Once Oliver got out of the fourth inning, neither team recorded another hit for the rest of the game. The junior has struggled in conference play thus far this season, so Oliver’s 2.2 innings of no-hit ball — including three strikeouts — served as one of the lone bright spots of the game for the Orange.

Alves was Syracuse’s only player to record multiple hits, as the freshman singled twice for her fifth multi-hit game of the year and her first in ACC play. Jasso, Galipeau and Breen were the only other players to get a hit for the Orange.

With the loss, Syracuse’s conference record drops to a lowly 3-12 with only two more conference series remaining in the regular season. The Orange will take on the Cardinals in the final game of the three-game series on Sunday before traveling to Hamilton, New York, for a doubleheader against Colgate on Wednesday.

Published on April 16, 2022 at 6:13 pm

Contact Spencer: spgoldst@syr.edu