Syracuse struggles to drive in runs despite new hitting approach
In the first frame against Indiana, Syracuse had a chance to grab a first-inning lead against better opposition. Alicia Hansen was in scoring position, and Alexis Kaiser came to the plate. Ahead 2-1 in the count, Kaiser popped out to third base on the fourth pitch. Inning over with no runs on the board.
Seven more times in that game, the Orange stranded runners on base. Their offensive production under a new hitting philosophy, which struggled opening weekend, amounted to just one run in a 5-1 loss.
Under first-year head coach Shannon Doepking, Syracuse (5-11) has one main offensive change in 2019: hit less singles, blast more home runs. Rather than stringing together hits, Doepking believes it’s easier for the Orange to rely on power. When the Orange have a chance to drive-in runs, Doepking’s “three good swings” approach hasn’t produced.
“We try to avoid taking first pitch strikes, a lot of times pitchers will try to get ahead, and it’s usually right there,” sophomore shortstop Neli Casares-Maher said.
But SU is just 1-3 in one-run games and batting 38 points worse than last season. As Syracuse enters its final nonconference tournament of the season, scoring with runners on base will turn one-run losses into one-run wins, Doepking said.
Players said that under former head coach Mike Bosch, hitting for contact was a priority. The Orange tried to score runs by stringing together singles last year. After just 14 home runs in 50 games in 2018, SU already has five this season from four different players. But following the loss to Indiana, Doepking told her team that they can’t be passive in big moments with runners on.
“Coach talks about that, when it does come down to those situations, you have to be the person that wants to be in the game,” sophomore Miranda Hearn said. “Even though that didn’t happen that game, we had a really good talk with her about it.”
On Feb. 15 against Penn State, the Orange had the game-tying run on second with just one out. But the final plate appearances — Anya Gonzalez took a called third strike and Toni Martin swung and missed contact — ended the game. Syracuse lost 3-2 to the Nittany Lions, leaving the tying run just 120 feet from home plate.
Eight days later, the Orange faced one of the best pitchers in the nation in Kelly Barnhill. Even in the loss, though, the Orange struck out just five times because of their aggressive approach, much lower than Barnhill typically averages.
“The fact that we only struck out five times against her is progress,” Doepking said.
To improve their timing, Syracuse takes batting practice, but doesn’t swing. A hitter loads up as if they were to swing, moving their hips through the ball in time if it’s a fastball. But if it’s a changeup, the player holds their hips back. Doepking wants the Orange to swing earlier and ensure they get their three good swings. While the bat never leaves the hitter’s shoulder, the Orange use their body movement to time pitches.
When SU strings together multiple hits, as they did against then-No. 20 Oklahoma State last weekend in the second inning, a base-running error cost them a run. With runners on first and second, Lailoni Mayfield singled to right field. Hannah Dossett was thrown out at home, and it was as close as SU came to scoring that afternoon in a 8-0 loss to OSU. Syracuse has gotten runners on base, but hasn’t done much with them this season. Now, it just has to get them home.
“She was talking about our mindset and how we need to have the type of mindset where we aren’t timid,” Hearn said of Doepking. “Once we do well in those situations, we won’t lose those close games as much anymore.”
