Syracuse seniors shine in final home game in 1-0 walk-off win
Rachel Burkhardt embraced her pitcher, AnnaMarie Gatti, in the dugout. The senior utility player had just lifted SU to a walk-off win, but in that moment all she could do was commend SU’s starter.
“You threw the perfect game,” Burkhardt kept repeating.
Gatti’s game statistically wasn’t perfect – she allowed three hits and a walk – but she threw what she needed to help Syracuse (28-19, 9-12 Atlantic Coast) get the shutout over North Carolina (28-25, 15-8), 1-0 at Skytop Softball Stadium on Saturday. Gatti, with help from the rest of the field, was able to keep UNC out of scoring position for most of the game.
“I don’t fear (UNC), I respect them but I want to beat them,” Gatti said.
Earlier this season against Louisville she called UNC one of her favorite teams to pitch against. During Saturday’s matchup, Gatti struck out five batters including the Tar Heels’ Brittany Pickett, who was responsible for the three-run home run that secured a win for UNC the day before.
It was the top of the seventh and the score was still 0-0 when UNC’s power hitter was at the plate for her final at-bat. Pickett was behind in the count when Gatti threw her final strikeout of the day down the middle. Pickett froze to put the first out of the final inning on the board.
“It could’ve gone either way, obviously,” Gatti said, “But it fell in my favor and I’m happy about it.”
It wasn’t until that inning that UNC advanced beyond first base. It had chances prior to the inning, most notably in the sixth.
For what senior Sammy Fernandez called the best play of the game, catcher Michala Maciolek launched the ball to Fernandez at second base to catch UNC outfielder Destiny DeBerry stealing.
“She threw a perfect ball,” Fernandez said. “I didn’t even have to move my glove, the tag was just there.”
With two outs in the seventh inning, Kristina Burkhardt became the first UNC player to reach second after Gatti threw a wild pitch. In all the noise Maciolek wasn’t able to find the ball immediately, and Burkhardt got to third base in position to score what could have been the winning run. But the next batter grounded out and SU was in the clear.
“I don’t even think we kind of flinched at (the runner on third),” Rachel Burkhardt said. “We were just like you know what, it’s fine. Like we were going to get the last out, it’s not a really big deal.”
It all came down to the Burkhardt, who led the inning off for SU and launched a walk-off home run over the centerfield fence. The senior did what her fellow Syracuse seniors had done all day: she delivered.
“I pulled (the seniors) aside before the game,” SU head coach Mike Bosch said, “and I said ‘hey, all six of you are in the lineup today, it’s your senior day so you can make or break what’s going to happen on the field’ and they did.”