There was only one way that Jenna Caira could top her one hit shut-out performance against Pittsburgh last weekend: by throwing a no-hitter in this weekend’s doubleheader against Villanova.

So that’s exactly what she did. Caira awed the crowd again as she not only pitched a complete-game no-hitter in a 5-0 win over the Wildcats Sunday, but rather 10 innings of no-hit ball against the Wildcats during the course of the weekend. Ciara added five scoreless innings in SU’s 6-1 win in the second contest.

For the freshman from Richmond Hill, Ontario, the first game played out in much of the same fashion as the previous weekend.

‘It was the same deal,’ Caira said. ‘I mean, I just came out and did what I had to. My job was to throw strikes and get groundouts, I really didn’t think about it.’

Caira’s performance was just the third no-hitter in Orange history, and the first since Courtney Mosch threw one in 2005.

Despite Caira’s performance in the first game, Syracuse’s victory was in doubt through six innings as the team couldn’t secure a single run for the freshman. The Orange finally scored its first run of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning as freshman Kelly Saco hit a sacrifice fly in foul territory that brought in Stephanie Watts. Syracuse (17-11, 6-2) tacked on four more runs in the inning thanks to a Gaby Torzilli single and a Villanova error.

Caira was dominant in the winning effort as she baffled Wildcat hitters with knee-buckling drop balls and changeup and forced them into plenty of routine ground balls.

The toughest play that the Orange fielders had to make all night came in the seventh inning, as second basemen Watts traced down a ball that was tailing away from her toward foul territory.

Caira then sewed up the no-hitter thanks to her signature drop ball, which froze the Villanova batter for what seemed like minutes as Caira celebrated with her teammates down the third baseline.

‘She was in the zone today for sure,’ senior catcher Amy Kelley said after calling the first no-hitter of her collegiate career. ‘I think we are seeing her be more confident, but for us it’s just like, oh, OK, that’s Jen.’

But Caira’s night didn’t conclude after the jubilation. Roughly 20 minutes later, to the surprise of many in the crowd, Caira’s signature orange cap emerged from the dugout yet again, as the hurler trotted out for the second game of the doubleheader.

Caira and Kelley said the decision wasn’t difficult for Syracuse head coach Leigh Ross.

‘She had a no-hitter and they were not seeing her ball that well,’ Kelley said. ‘So we went with the strength.’

And while pitching mere minutes following a no-hitter is unheard of on a baseball diamond, Ross didn’t think it would be far-fetched in this situation.

‘As matter of fact, she probably could have finished that second game as well,’ Ross said.

From the first pitch in the second game, it was much of the same for Caira. The freshman’s off-speed pitches kept fooling the Wildcats (15-11, 1-7 Big East), as ground ball after ground ball was scooped up by the Orange infielders for easy outs.

By the end of the second inning, the pitcher from north of the border had thrown what equaled a Major League no-hitter, not allowing a single hit through nine innings.

But Caira’s second no-hit bid finally ended in the fourth inning as a fly ball barely escaped the reach of Gaby Torzilli. After 30 consecutive outs without a hit, the Wildcats finally had a digit other than zero on the scoreboard.

By the end of Caira’s evening, which ended after five innings of shutout ball, the freshman tallied outlandish numbers. Over the course of three games, Caira retired 36 batters without conceding a hit – and retired 52 batters while only giving up one hit. Caira’s record improved to 8-4 on the year as she struck out 16 batters in only 11 innings.

Junior Brittany Gardner relieved Caira in the sixth inning and wrapped up the 6-1 victory for the Orange. Syracuse finished the weekend 2-0, after having a doubleheader against South Florida rained out on Saturday.

At the end of the day, as the duo of Caira and Kelley joined the team in sweeping dirt from the dugout, just as they had done to the Wildcats in the preceding hours, Kelley could only muster up one last thing to say about Caira’s dominant performance.

‘The bottom line is,’ Kelley said, ‘she just made people look silly today. Period.’

aolivero@syr.edu

Published on April 5, 2009 at 12:00 pm