It had been 15 years since two Division 1 programs from Syracuse faced off in their home city. That changed one week ago when the Syracuse Orange hosted the LeMoyne Dolphins at the Skytop Softball Stadium.
Despite chilly conditions and cloudy skies, a pretty evenly divided crowd arrived to watch the weekday doubleheader. Game 1 went from a pitchers’ duel to batting practice, with the Orange narrowly holding on to win 8-6. Then Jessie DiPasquale pitched a gem in Game 2 to finish off the ‘Cuse sweep.
Unfortunately, despite the background of the game, it honestly felt like any other. That’s something I hope will change as these two schools face each other more often.
I’ve said before that there should be interest in developing some competition for head-to-head matchups – “OrangeDolphin Cup” is right there for the taking – and LeMoyne Athletics Director Bob Beretta has indicated that they’d like to schedule more matchups with SU across other sports.
Logistically, it makes sense. Men’s and women’s basketball would both enjoy an early matchup in the Dome and it’d give SU more ticket sales than most random other out of conference opponents. Soccer, volleyball, and tennis would also benefit from starting off their respective seasons against one another.
It’s a bit more complicated for lacrosse, which is unfortunate because I feel that could have some good regional appeal. The Dolphin women’s squad struggled against top competition but dominated in NEC play, while the men were dealt a sore hand without a conference schedule at all (they will have one in 2025).
(Editor Note: While an overall sports competition might be one-sided now, it can help restore some of those old-school college rivalry feelings which have been lost in today’s landscape. The two schools call Syracuse home and it makes sense for them to face each other.)
