Syracuse drops both games in doubleheader against North Carolina State

Syracuse was two outs away from knocking off North Carolina State in its home opener. And then it all went downhill.

N.C. State took a 6-5 advantage on a Hanna Sommer two-run home run in the seventh inning. Two batters later, Leah Jones hit a solo homer to cushion the lead.

The Wolfpack (23-10, 12-4 Atlantic Coast) went on to sweep the Orange (13-18, 6-7) in the doubleheader Sunday, winning game one 8-6 and game two 7-0. After nearly staging an upset against the defending ACC tournament champions, SU unraveled and got blown out in game two.

“It’s not that we did anything wrong or did anything bad,” SU head coach Leigh Ross said. “It’s just they got two big hits at the end of the game and it put them ahead.”

In game one, the lead changed four times. The two teams battled back and forth, but in the end it was N.C. State who came through with the game-changing hits at the right time.

Syracuse trailed 4-1 entering the bottom of the fifth inning and then took the lead, scoring four runs on five hits in the frame.

Mary Dombrowski led off with a single and scored on a single by Shirley Daniels. Nicole Lundstrom batted next and scored Daniels and Alyssa Dewes on a double to center field. Lundstrom then scored on a single by Julie Wambold.

Dombrowski said that hitting was contagious for Syracuse in the fifth. The Orange did not rely on one big hit, but was still able to take the lead.

Syracuse had a chance to beat one of the top teams in the ACC. Even though it lost, SU’s players had a positive outlook.

“I think we battled really hard,” Lundstrom said. “I think we did a lot of good things in that first game. The ending just didn’t go our way but we were in it the whole time.”

Regardless of the loss, SU had to bounce back quickly, Dombrowski said, due to the nature of playing a doubleheader.

In game two, Syracuse was not able to respond, and N.C. State won 7-0. The game was shortened to six innings, due to travel arrangements for the Wolfpack.

Emily Weiman pitched all 13 innings for North Carolina State, surrendering just 13 hits and striking out 16 batters. The Syracuse offense struggled to get momentum. This time, the contagious hitting worked in the opposite way.

Ross said it’s difficult for the team to maintain its high energy throughout both games. After the big hits in the fifth, the energy level was high, but it was not sustained.

“It’s kind of hard to keep that level,” Ross said. “Being out here for seven hours, eight hours, two games, it’s a lot.”

Team members did not blame the pitchers, even though they allowed 15 runs. Sydney O’Hara pitched six and two-thirds innings for SU, struck out 11 and allowed eight runs, but four came in the seventh inning.

Lindsey Larkin started game two, but was pulled after allowing four runs in one and two-thirds innings.

Freshman Christina Clermont came on in relief and had the most impressive pitching performance of the day. Clermont went four and one-third innings, allowing three runs on four hits. She entered the game with an 8.01 earned run average, but Lundstrom said Clermont pitched with more confidence than in past outings.

“Even if they got a hit, you could just see it in her face, she was just focused on the next batter,” Lundstrom said. “You like to see your pitchers focused on the next one and not thinking about all the other things that are going on.”

After both games, Ross told the team she’s not going to critique every aspect of its performance, because over time doing so gets repetitive. Ross gave N.C. State credit for scoring in key spots.

Syracuse will focus on the positives in preparation of a doubleheader with Binghamton on Wednesday.

Said Dombrowski: “That’s the only way in sports that you can continue on through a season, so we’re alright. We just know now what we need to work on for this week to be better against Binghamton.”