Worst batting average in program history remedied by strong fielding
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Buffalo’s Brianna Castro lined a ball deep into right field. The ball was set to bounce just ahead of the right-field warning track until Angel Jasso used her speed, blocked out the sun and made a diving catch to keep Syracuse up 4-0 in the game’s fourth inning. The play landed on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays on April 6.
That weekend, a Syracuse fielder landed on the SC Top 10 again. Boston College’s Emme Martinez crushed a fly ball into foul territory, but just as it was about to drop, Paris Woods laid out a similar inning-ending dive to keep the Orange in a close 3-2 contest against the Eagles.
The Orange are at an all-time low at the plate — their .229 average and 3.8 runs per game are both all-time program lows — but establishing themselves as a defensive threat has saved their season. Aside from the shortened 2020 season, Syracuse’s (19-16, 11-13 Atlantic Coast) .972 fielding percentage is the second-best in program history, the third-best in the ACC and is tied for 37th nationally.
The seventh-place Orange have played the fewest games in the ACC. With only eight games remaining, all against ranked conference opponents, Syracuse will have to rely on its defense to make up for its offensive failures ahead of the ACC Tournament in May.
Syracuse’s two primary starters, Alexa Romero and Kaia Oliver, both have seven wins. But their pitching styles create completely different results off opponent bats. Romero usually utilizes her fastball, which leads to more strikeouts but also creates harder contact and more fly balls. Oliver’s changeup, on the other hand, generates softer contact and more ground balls.
“I think you miss-hit changeups a lot more than you actually hit square on them,” head coach Shannon Doepking said. “You get square a lot more consistently (on fastballs) than obviously the slow stuff.”
The Orange have made more outs on the ground than in the air only nine times this season, eight of them when Oliver was pitching. Syracuse’s only win with more groundouts than flyouts without Oliver was in its season opener against Notre Dame.
This season, Syracuse has made 82 more flyouts than groundouts, with the majority coming in Romero’s starts. All but two of her starts had more flyouts than groundouts. In Romero’s seven complete games, fielders have had to make just 17 groundouts. And during Syracuse’s nine-game win streak, the Orange fielded more flyouts than groundouts in all but one of those wins.
With an ACC-low 951 fielding opportunities, Syracuse’s infielders have made the most of their opportunities. Syracuse has turned 27 double plays through 35 games, only four away from tying the single-season program record that was set in 2004 in 54 games. In the second half of the season, with Syracuse’s batting average diminishing and its errors at a season-low, the Orange have turned 14 double plays, providing support for their inconsistencies at the plate.
But the defense hasn’t always been stellar. After allowing 32 runs in a weekend sweep by Florida State, Doepking said that Syracuse needed a sharper defense.
In the third game of the series, Syracuse was set to pull off a 2-1 upset win against the then-No. 9 Seminoles until Kiersten Landers hit a bloop single to Orange center fielder Toni Martin. Martin dropped the ball when she tried to field it, allowing Landers to reach second.
The next batter walked, and Doepking brought in Lindsey Hendrix to get the final out. But Kalei Harding, the first batter she faced, singled into right field, drove in Landers and tied the game. Florida State went on to win in extra innings.
“When the ball’s on the ground and in a sport where we can make a play, we got to make a play on a weekend like this where our pitchers struggled as much as they did,” Doepking said after the doubleheader sweep to Florida State on April 18.