Shannon Doepking earns 1st win as Syracuse head coach

Syracuse picked up its first win under first-year head coach Shannon Doepking Saturday night.

After five straight scoreless innings with the score deadlocked at two, sophomore Gabby Teran singled in Logan Paul in the bottom of the 8th for a 3-2 walk-off win over Grand Canyon (2-3). Teran’s single was one of just three hits in the game for SU.

The Orange (1-3) were looking to bounce back from three consecutive losses to start the season. They were just one out away from their first win on Friday against San Diego State, before conceding six runs in the final inning, losing 9-8.

SU was then blown out twice by No. 4 Oklahoma. In the second game on Saturday afternoon, Alexa Romero took the ball for the Orange, but made it through just two innings.

While Doepking has noted that her team has more pitching depth this year, the relief was shelled. Syracuse cut the deficit to 2-1 after Hannah Dossett reached on an error, but Oklahoma opened up an eight-run lead as Miranda Hearn and Peyton Schnackenberg allowed seven runs on 10 hits in the fourth inning.

With SU trailing 9-1 after five innings, the game was called.

In their final game of the four-game Grand Canyon tournament, the Orange defeated the hosts, needing extra innings. Alexis Kaiser hit a two-run home run in the first inning, the only offense SU would produce until the 8th, when Teran won it.

It was only the third hit of the game, but it gave Syracuse a win to build on heading into the ACC-Big 10 Challenge in Durham, North Carolina next weekend. The Orange will play two games each against Penn State and Indiana.