Until Feb. 23, Syracuse (5-7) had gone almost four years without a win over a ranked opponent.

The Orange’s 3-2 walk-off win over No. 20 Texas Tech (10-5) snapped that streak. Sunday’s matchup went to extra innings tied at two, and Syracuse escaped in the top of the eighth, doubling off the runner at second with a lineout to right field. In the bottom half, Gabby Teran came all the way home from second base on a Rebecca Clyde groundout. The walk-off victory is Syracuse’s first win over a ranked opponent since Mar. 26, 2016, when the Orange took down No. 19 Notre Dame.

The Orange got revenge two days after suffering a late-inning, comeback loss to the Red Raiders, scoring the winning run in the eighth to secure its second win of the weekend. In total, SU went 2-3 on the weekend.

The Orange got on the board first in the fourth inning, putting together a two-out rally and stringing together three hits in a row to grab a 1-0 lead. Alex Acevedo got it going with a two-strike single followed by a base hit from Toni Martin. Paris Woods capped the rally with an RBI single.

Freshman starter Catie Dobbs was brilliant through 4.1 innings before getting pulled for Alexa Romero. Texas Tech capitalized on the pitching change, recording three consecutive singles to tie the game at one. Karli Hamilton’s sacrifice bunt later in the inning put the Red Raiders up 2-1 in a comeback reminiscent of the opening game of the Houston Challenge on Friday, in which Texas Tech came back and held on to defeat the Orange.

Syracuse had other plans in this one. A pinch-hit home run courtesy of Lailoni Mayfield in the sixth tied the game up, spoiling the Texas Tech comeback effort. Kaia Oliver had replaced Romero in the top half of the sixth and continued her trend of getting in and then out of trouble, with the Red Raiders leaving the bases loaded in the sixth and two more in the seventh.

Dobbs, in her second career start, allowed no runs over 4.1 innings pitched, striking out four and conceding two hits. Texas Tech left 11 runners on base, putting up threats in nearly every inning thanks to seven walks and reaching on errors, but failed to score more than twice.

The Orange finished the Houston Challenge with a pair of wins and three losses, the other victory coming against Louisiana Tech on Saturday. Syracuse has a five-game slate set up next weekend, beginning with another meeting with Rutgers, whom the Orange have lost to twice already this season.

Published on February 23, 2020 at 2:54 pm

Contact Cameron: cbmckeon@syr.edu