After winning the first game of a doubleheader, Syracuse presumably had another seven innings of softball left to play. But the second game kept moving ahead of pace.

The Orange forced Binghamton’s starting pitcher, Allison Pritchard to throw 76 pitches just two outs into the second inning.

“Whenever someone’s bringing somebody in to pitch, something that the relief pitcher is told is make sure you go in there and pound the zone,” SU head coach Mike Bosch said. “We were aggressive early in the count and we got results right away.”

Syracuse (19-12 3-6 Atlantic Coast) displayed offensive prowess it hadn’t shown yet this year. The result was a 13-1 rout of Binghamton (9-16, 2-2 America East) on Wednesday afternoon in the Orange’s first game at Skytop Stadium this season. It was the team’s second game of the year in which it scored more than 10 runs.

Syracuse got production from its whole lineup on Wednesday. Nine players got hits for SU and 10 players scored runs, contributing to the second highest run total this season for the Orange.

After Pritchard left the game in the third inning, SU added another four runs to cap a dominant seven-run inning. All this was happening as Syracuse left-handed pitcher Alexa Romero had one of her best starts of the season, taking all the hope of a comeback away from the Bearcats.

“We started being more aggressive,” shortstop and leadoff hitter Sammy Fernandez said. “We started hitting a lot of first pitches, so we made that adjustment really quick.”

The bottom three batters in the lineup — Hannah Dossett, Toni Martin, and Alyssa Dewes — combined for five hits and four RBIs and six runs on the game. The trio batted in almost 31 percent of SU’s highest run total of the season.

“We’ve really been top heavy for a little while,” Bosch said. “Syd (O’Hara), Faith (Cain), Sammy in the top of the order have been getting people on base and getting people in but we kind of stalled when we got through six through nine. Six through nine really picked it up today.”

Dewes, who homered in the game, feels that the team’s relaxed nature helped the Orange deliver on the offensive end. The patience in the box is a huge part of that, but they also showed the willingness to attack when the opportunity was given to them, giving them a boost toward the end of the game.

Bryce Holmgren has been a staple of offensive production throughout the season for the Orange. She saw that her team found its stride in the game and just kept riding the momentum.

“We’re worried about doing our thing at bat,” Holmgren said. “We know when we are getting on (the opposing pitcher) so we just keep pushing and keep stringing things together so that we can put a bunch of runs together when we have the chance.”

For Syracuse, a return home was just what they needed. Two wins for the first time this season back at Skytop Stadium and the Orange were showing the fans what they’ve been missing during their 29 game road trip.

“That was probably our best offensive production of the year,” Bosch said. “Just the fact you’re on your own field, have your own fans, have your own dugout, leads to a little more success.”

Published on April 5, 2017 at 11:46 pm

Contact Michael: mmcclear@syr.edu | @MikeJMcCleary