Orange Defeat Fairfield, Fall to Maryland

Friday, February 27

College Park, Md.

12:30 PM

Syracuse University

8-5

Fairfield

3-7

Syracuse

Fairfield

2/27/2026 6:29:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

COLLEGE PARK, Md.- The Orange softball team (8-6) took down Fairfield (3-7) 5-4 but lost to Maryland (7-9) 6-3 on the opening day of the Terrapin Invitational. Rose Cano and Kaylee Eubanks each hit home runs as Julianna Verni threw 11 strikeouts against the Stags.

GAME 1 VS. FAIRFIELD
Verni (1-1) threw two strikeouts to start the game off and would ultimately keep the Stags from a hit for five innings.

In the top of the second, Kendall Gaunt drew a walk, later advancing to second base after stealing at Kaimi Tulua's plate appearance. Peyton Schemmer entered the game at first base after Tulua reached on a walk. Both runners advanced to second and third base after Fairfield's Alyssa Weinberg threw a wild pitch. Erika Zamora reached on a fielder's choice, sending Gaunt to home plate to add a run to the board for 'Cuse and advance Schemmer to third. Gabby Lantier singled down the middle, giving Schemmer the go ahead to score, giving Syracuse a 3-0 advantage after the inning.

Taylor Davison doubled to left center at the top of the third inning. Vanessa Flores singled to right field, allowing Davison to reach third base. Gaunt hit a sacrifice fly to right field, allowing Davison to step across home plate and score.

In the top of the sixth inning, Kaylee Eubanks stepped in to pinch hit for Gaunt, hitting her first home run of her career over the center field fence. Eubanks gave Syracuse a 5-2 advantage over the Stags.

After throwing 11 strikeouts throughout the game, Verni was relieved by Jackie Pengel, who went on to throw one more strikeout and earn credit for the save. Syracuse won its first game of the tournament 5-4, improving its all-time record over Fairfield to 2-0.

GAME 2 VS. MARYLAND
Cano hit her first solo home run of the season at the top of the second inning to put the Orange on the board. Gabby Lantier was next at the plate, singling the ball to third base as Jadyn Burney followed with the same play. On a passed ball by the Terrapins, the runners were able to advance bases, stationing themselves on second and third respectively. Harmony Jackson sent the ball into a right field gap, bringing both Lantier and Burney home to add two runs to the score.

Maryland answered, adding a run in the bottom of the second inning and hitting a home run in the fourth inning to chip away at the Orange's lead. A sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth inning gave the Terrapins their first lead of the game, holding a 4-3 advantage over the Orange. Maryland would go on to score another run in the bottom of the fifth inning and the bottom of the sixth, ultimately defeating Syracuse 6-3.

OF NOTE

Julianna Verni threw 11 strikeouts against the Stags, the most since throwing 11 against Buffalo on Feb. 21, 2025.
Freshman Kaylee Eubanks hit the first home run of her career against Fairfield.
Rose Cano recorded her third home run of her career and first of the season in the Orange's matchup versus Maryland.
Jadyn Burney recorded her third multi-hit game of the season after tallying two hits against the Terrapins.
Pitchers Madison Knight and Jackie Pengel combined for seven strikeouts against Maryland.
The Orange recorded 16 hits total on the first day of the Terrapin Invitational.

UP NEXT
Syracuse will face UMBC on Saturday, Feb. 28 for the second day of the Terrapin Invitational. The first pitch is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network Plus.

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