Syracuse shut out 7-0, 6-0 in doubleheader against No. 6 Duke

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Kelly Breen held strong in the batter’s box, fouling off multiple pitches to exhaust Duke pitcher Jala Wright. With three balls and two strikes, Breen eventually forced a walk. Amidst a Syracuse scoring drought through the first three innings in its first matchup versus Duke, Tessa Gallipeau grounded out but advanced Breen to second.

Wright regained her strength and eliminated the Orange’s greatest scoring chance, striking out Madelyn Lopez and marking her fourth strikeout of the game.

Syracuse (8-8, 0-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) opened ACC play with a doubleheader against No. 6 Duke (15-1, 2-0 ACC) on Saturday. With no runs and only five hits overall, SU ended the doubleheader scoreless, falling 7-0 and 6-0.

In the opening matchup, Wright set the tone for Duke, striking out Taylor Posner and forcing groundouts from Aggie Jasso and Lopez in the top of the first inning. Syracuse’s starting pitcher Lindsey Hendrix managed to keep the score level until the bottom of the second. After getting to third base on Amiah Burgess’s groundout, Aleyah Terrell scored on another groundout from Francesca Frelick.

Syracuse struggled to mount any offense and in the fourth inning, Duke’s offense broke through. Following a sequence of plays and an outfield error by Lopez, Burgess and Frelick scored to build the lead to 3-0.

Following another scoreless half by Syracuse, Duke’s Claire Davidson widened the gap with a home run in the fifth.
The final innings saw Duke cement its lead. A run by Burgess on a double by Davidson pushed the Blue Devils to a 7-0 victory.

The second game Saturday went similarly to the first. Starting pitcher Britney Lewinski couldn’t prevent Duke from loading bases in the first inning. With a groundout, Davidson scored D’Auna Jennings.

In the fourth, Duke scored five runs. Davidson hammered her second homer of the day while Felick laced a two-RBI double to extend to a four-run lead. Duke didn’t finish scoring in the frame. A Syracuse infield error caused Jada Baker to reach second base, advancing Felick home.

The Orange put Madison Knight on the mound to save the frame, but the team failed to prevent more runs. Jennings’ single to the right side contributed another run for Duke. Trailing by six runs, Syracuse’s scoring chances were sealed off due to Duke’s strikeouts and stable fielding.