North Carolina State’s Sam Russ had already hit two home runs off Alexa Romero this weekend alone. On Sunday, she stepped into the batter’s box with a chance to tie the game. With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, Russ represented the Wolfpack’s last remnant of hope.

Romero fell behind 2-0 in the count, but she delivered her 116th pitch, a rising fastball too high for Russ to make solid contact with. Shortstop Alicia Hansen tracked back toward the left field foul line to snag the pop fly and clinch Syracuse’s win.

In Romero’s second 10-strikeout, complete game of the weekend, Syracuse (17-20, 6-6 Atlantic Coast) took advantage of NC State’s (21-18, 3-9 ACC) fielding lapses to win 5-3. Syracuse won the weekend series in Raleigh and has lost just two of its previous ten games.

Syracuse needed Romero to calm the Wolfpack’s high-powered offense, which has hit the fourth-most home runs in the conference. Romero struck out NC State’s biggest threat from the plate, Brigette Nordberg (.328 hitting average, 14 home runs), twice.

Romero allowed five hits, two of which sailed out of the park in the first inning. Syracuse shortstop Gabby Teran (3-for-4) had scored on a passed ball in the top of the first, so the Wolfpack’s two solo home runs gave NC State a 2-1 advantage.

SU evened the score in the third inning when first baseman Alex Acevedo drove Hansen home from second on a single to left field. That RBI extended Acevedo’s hitting streak to ten games. Acevedo later scored in the fifth inning on an Alexis Kaiser single, which put Syracuse up 3-2. The next at-bat, Lailoni Mayfield scored from third on a wild pitch and added to SU’s lead.

Teran scored again, this time in the sixth inning, on an off-target heave from Nordberg in right field. Hansen fielded out to right, but Teran rounded third base when Nordberg’s throw sailed. The error gave the Orange a 5-2 cushion. 

NC State cut the three-run lead to two in the bottom of the sixth, but Romero ended the sixth inning by fanning second baseman Jessica Moore. After halting the Wolfpack’s rally, Romero pumped her left fist and let out her a roar. In the next inning, Romero struck out her 10th batter of the afternoon and secured Syracuse’s 5-3 win, as well as the weekend series.

Published on April 7, 2019 at 3:13 pm

Contact Danny: dremerma@syr.edu | @DannyEmerman