COLLEGE PARK, Md. After returning from the Cathedral Classic preseason tournament in late February, Leigh Ross said giving up one big inning to its opponents had cost the Syracuse softball team several wins.

In a span of those two days in February, the Orange allowed six runs in one inning to No. 20 Tennessee, five runs in a single frame against No. 10 Stanford and four runs in an inning to No. 13 Texas.

‘We let them get carried away in one inning,’ Ross said in February. ‘If we could have just kind of stopped it before those innings got so out of hand, then we would have still been in those games or even won them.’

Three months later, that Achilles’ heel flared up once again. But this time it resulted in a loss that ended SU’s season.

Syracuse (32-26) gave up three runs in the top of the first against Maryland Saturday en route to a 4-1 loss in the NCAA Regional semifinals. Despite having seven at-bats to make up that deficit, the Orange couldn’t come up with a crucial hit and left 10 runners stranded on base in the game.

SU suffered its first loss of the double-elimination tournament Friday against No. 14 Oklahoma. Aside from the Terrapins’ (34-23) lone offensive outburst in the first, the teams were dead-even throughout the rest of the game, with each side scoring just one run on four base hits.

The Terrapins got on the scoreboard quickly and took advantage of Syracuse starting pitcher Brittany Gardner’s first game action in close to a month. Maryland loaded the bases in the first inning on a single and back-to-back walks issued by Gardner. Second baseman Marisha Branson then swung at the first pitch she saw and lined a two-run single to right field. A throwing error committed by SU’s Morgan Nandin allowed a third run to score.

‘I didn’t feel (any nerves),’ Gardner said. ‘But it might have been my body trying to overcorrect some things.’

Gardner last threw for the Orange on April 24 against Connecticut and hadn’t registered a decision since she lost to Providence on April 10. With Jenna Caira as the team’s clear No. 1 starter and freshman Stacy Kuwik putting together a strong season, Gardner was the odd man out for much of the year.

After that opening inning, however, she was unflappable. Beginning with Nadine Blackie’s ground out to end the first, Gardner went on to retire 12 straight batters and 15 out of the next 16 that she faced. She needed just seven pitches to retire the side in the second inning and only eight pitches in the third. She went all seven innings for the Orange, allowing three earned runs on six hits.

‘I thought she threw awesome,’ SU outfielder Lisaira Daniels said. ‘Her rise ball was working. Her drop was phenomenal today. She did a really good job of mixing it up and making them chase.’

Gardner kept putting zeroes up on the scoreboard and allowing her team the chance to come back, but it just wouldn’t happen. Syracuse had plenty of chances — it left the bases loaded in the first and fourth innings and stranded two more runners in the seventh — but it couldn’t get one big play and make a push.

SU’s best chance came in the bottom of the fourth. The Orange loaded the bases on three consecutive walks, and freshman Veronica Grant drove in the team’s lone run when she earned a fourth straight base-on-balls. Maryland made a pitching change, bringing in Kerry Hickey, but Rachel Helman swung at the first pitch she saw and grounded out to end the scoring threat.

‘I think we had pretty good at-bats,’ Ross said. ‘It just didn’t happen at the right time. Sometimes the game goes like that.’

After the game the team felt that the box score didn’t accurately reflect how close the game was. For six innings SU played even with the Terps. Take away the first frame and it’s a 1-1 ball game heading into extra innings.

But again, one inning was all that was needed. And it was one inning too much.

Although the Orange left its first-ever NCAA tournament with an 0-2 record — and just one run scored — few expected them to be here in the first place. And after the final out was recorded, Ross still had a positive message for her squad, a group that over-achieved as far as preseason expectations. No matter what occurred in that fateful first inning.

‘I told them that we can’t let the last two losses overshadow what we have accomplished,’ Ross said. ‘We didn’t know that we would be here at the beginning of the year. I kept telling the girls all week to enjoy the ride. …We’re here to enjoy this moment.’

 

Mjcohe02@syr.edu

Published on May 22, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13