Syracuse downs Niagara behind 14 strikeouts from Alexa Romero

The first batter Alexa Romero faced, Niagara’s Kelsey Harrigan, stepped into the batter’s box, only to head straight back to the dugout three pitches later.

Immediately after the strikeout, a loud “cha-ching,” signifying the noise of a cash register, boomed from the loudspeaker. A confused look came to Romero’s face.

“I heard that,” Romero said about the noise. “I turned to Hannah (Dossett), and was like, ‘that’s new.’ I never heard that before.”

For the rest of the game, the sound effect repeated 14 times, once for each Romero strikeout. The sophomore tied a career-high in strikeouts, leading Syracuse (23-18, 5-11 Atlantic Coast) past Niagara (10-25, 2-4 Metro Atlantic), 7-1, in game two of a doubleheader played Wednesday evening at Skytop Softball Stadium. It was the Orange’s third straight win, having defeated the Purple Eagles in game one of the doubleheader, 10-7.

For the opening two innings, both team’s bats were silent. Romero tamed the opposing hitters, striking out four in her first two innings, while allowing two harmless walks. Similarly, Niagara pitcher Karsen Cotton kept stifled the Orange, striking out one and forcing three groundouts and a pop-out.

In the top of the third, Romero started to lose her grip. A walk followed by a wild pitch handed Margaret Vesneske second base. A batter later, Romero conceded her fourth walk of the game. Her struggles warranted a visit to the circle by an SU coach, giving her an opportunity to reset and get out of trouble. She did, striking out cleanup hitter Jerri Ann Orfano, and from there it was smooth sailing.

“It’s just a matter of handling the moments,” head coach Mike Bosch said about Romero. “In that situation, there were two outs, and runners on first and second. It shouldn’t be a real big threat. That’s what she’ll need to do here when we play some bigger games down the stretch.”

In the bottom of the inning, the Orange’s bats sprung alive. Alicia Hansen put the first runs on the board, launching a two-run home run to center field that clanked against the metal camera tower before settling on the grass behind the fence. Three batters later, Gabby Teran tripled, but came home after a throwing error by Niagara’s Taylor Moody, scoring Bryce Holmgren as well.

Now boasting a four-run advantage, Romero went into cruise control. The Aurora, Colorado, native struck out the side in the fourth. After a walk, stolen base and single gave the Purple Eagles their first run of the game in the fifth, Romero returned to form, retiring her next four batters. Entering the seventh inning, the sophomore had 12 strikeouts.

“I never doubt her when she’s on the mound. I love playing behind her,” Hansen, who replaced an injured Sammy Fernandez at shortstop, said. “I didn’t even realize she had 14 strikeouts because we’re so used to her striking everyone out.”

The Orange added to its lead in the bottom of the sixth, when pinch-hitter Andrea Bombace sent a two-run shot over the fence in right-center. It was SU’s second home run of the game, marking the first time it has hit more than one long ball in a game.

Entering the seventh, Romero remained poised as she approached her career-high in strikeouts. After walking leadoff batter Rachel Funk, she struck out her next two batters, giving herself one final shot at the record. To the crowd’s dismay, Harrigan popped out to second base. As the ball shot high in the air, the remaining spectators let out a collective sigh.

With the win, Romero’s record improved to 14-11 on the season. The performance marked her ninth double-digit strikeout game of the season, and evened her 14-strikeout outing at Army on March 28. In addition, Romero recorded her 13th complete game of the season, tying Boston College’s Jessica Dreswick for the fifth-highest clip in the conference. It is always her intention to last all seven innings, Romero said.

“We never sit down and say, ‘you’re going to pitch all seven innings,’” Bosch said. “But we have three people on the staff right now, and she’s obviously a big part of that. To see her do that today was good for us.”