Syracuse drops game to Long Beach State on 2nd day of Mary Nutter Classic

Syracuse (6-7) opened the Mary Nutter Classic with two wins Friday against Loyola Marymount (4-7) and Northwestern (3-9) and a loss Saturday against Long Beach State (7-8). Pitcher Jocelyn Cater struck out 14 batters over 13 innings and recorded all three decisions.

In the opener against LMU, SU jumped out to a two-run lead in the first inning when its first four batters reached base. Loyola chipped away at pitcher Sydney O’Hara throughout the game, eventually taking a 3-2 lead in the top of the seventh.

The bottom of the inning opened with consecutive outs by the Orange, but right fielder Maddi Doane followed with a single. Two batters later, third baseman Corinne Ozanne singled home the tying run. Second baseman Julie Wambold followed with the game-winning hit.

Kicking off the scoring in the second game was a solo home run in the second inning by center fielder Mary Dombrowski after Cater struck out two batters in the first. She punched out nine in a complete game effort.

Northwestern pitcher Amy Letourneau walked Sammy Fernandez with the bases loaded in the fourth inning for SU’s second run. Cater loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh before getting a sacrifice fly and a fly-out to end the game, 2-1.

In Saturday’s contest, Cater got the start, giving up three hits and four runs, two earned, in 5 2/3 innings. She gave up two runs in the second inning on two extra-base hits and a wild pitch.

The Orange tied it up in the fourth. After second baseman Fernandez reached base, O’Hara clocked a home run. O’Hara took the mound with two outs in the sixth after Cater gave up a run. With a runner on third, first baseman Julia Lombardi tripled to make the score 4-2.

Syracuse loaded the bases in the final half-inning but failed to score. SU will be back on the field Sunday with two games in Cathedral City, California, against Texas A&M (10-4) and Nevada (3-10).

Compiled by Jack Rose, staff writer, jlrose@syr.edu