Alexa Romero sets new career-high in strikeouts as Syracuse beats Elon, 4-2

Syracuse (13-7, 2-1 Atlantic Coast) defeated Elon (13-9), 4-2, on Tuesday evening at Hunt Softball Park in Elon, North Carolina, thanks in part to another strong performance from its ace, Alexa Romero. The Orange dominated both in the batter’s box and in the circle throughout the game, out-hitting the Phoenix nine to two while Romero struck out a career-high 13 batters to Elon’s six. The output broke her previous best of 12, which came against the University of Texas at San Antonio on Feb. 24.

Romero started the game unlike her usual self. In the bottom of the first, the sophomore allowed a walk and a single in her first two batters. After a sacrifice bunt advanced the runners to second and third, Romero rediscovered her form by striking out the next two batters to end the inning and escape the jam.

After an atypical first inning, Romero returned to the top of her game. She pitched five scoreless innings before Elon’s Ally Repko hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh. Romero went on to register her 13th strikeout on the last batter of the game. The sophomore improved to 9-4 on the season.

Syracuse got on the board early after singles from Alicia Hansen and Bryce Holmgren put runners on the corners and a double steal gave SU its first run of the game. Later in the at-bat, Gabby Teran singled to right field to drive in Holmgren, extending the Orange’s lead to two. Holmgren’s single marked the eighth straight game the junior has recorded a hit.

After recording two hits over the next three innings, Syracuse’s offense was revitalized in the fifth. Again, Hansen and Holmgren got on base to start the inning, before Lailoni Mayfield belted a two-RBI double to left-center to give SU a 4-0 advantage. Holmgren’s second hit in the fifth meant her ninth multi-hit game this season.

Syracuse will resume conference play on Friday with the first of a three-game series against Virginia.