Veronica Grant stood 60 feet away from home plate and the winning run.

With the game tied and Shirley Daniels at bat in the bottom of the 10th inning, Harvard pitcher Morgan Groom bounced a pitch in front of the plate. The ball got away from catcher Katherine Applebe. Grant bolted home, giving the Orange the walk-off win.

“I was really anxious on third,” Grant said. “Coach (Leigh Ross) told me that if there was a passed ball to go for it. I saw it kick away and was able to get home.”

After a game filled with missed opportunities by the Orange, the team could finally celebrate.

To cap off the Duel at the Dome, the Orange (11-14) gutted a 5-4 extra-inning win over Harvard (5-12) despite its inconsistent play. After Lindsay Taylor led her team to a 6-2 win the day before, SU completed the sweep on Sunday. In a season plagued by inexperience, the Orange’s three veteran captains pushed the team to victory. Grant, Jasmine Watson and Morgan Nandin were responsible for the Orange’s final three runs.

“We need the underclassmen to help out, but in the end, the upperclassmen need to show them the way,” Ross said. “They did a good job of that today, all of our captains contributed in some big way.”

Throughout the game, the Orange’s offensive effort was lackluster. After scoring two runs in the first inning on a double steal and sacrifice fly by Corinne Ozanne, SU left the bases loaded in the second. Then, Harvard relief pitcher Gabrielle Ruiz retired eight straight hitters before being pulled for Saturday’s starter Morgan Groom.

When Groom took the mound, Nandin embraced an opportunity for revenge. On Saturday, Nandin hit a hard line drive to second base and a ball to the fence, but was retired by Groom each time. Nandin used her third meeting with Groom on the weekend to boost a sputtering Orange offense.

“I came so close to hitting a home run off of her on Saturday, and everyone was making fun of me, saying I needed to eat my Wheaties,” Nandin said. “I saw my pitch today and was able to hit a home run, and I don’t hit many of those. It was exciting.”

Nandin’s homer in the bottom of the fifth gave the Orange a 3-1 lead, but the Crimson fought back. In the next half-inning, Adrienne Hume reached first on an infield single past pitcher Stacy Kuwick. Then, Jessica Ferri, who had been a tough out for Kuwick all game, hit a two-run home run to tie the game 3-3.

After putting runners on second and third in the bottom of the sixth, Syracuse again failed to plate any runs.

With the game heading to extra innings, Ross sent freshman Lindsey Larkin to the mound. She had yet to pitch a full inning this season. After retiring the first six hitters she faced, Larkin yielded a home run to Harvard center fielder Zoe Galindo in the top of the ninth.

The Orange looked deflated until Watson came up big in the bottom half of the inning.

Despite struggling all afternoon, Watson hit a fly ball to left center that scored Mary Dombrowski and tied the game again at 4-4. Larkin had no problem retiring Harvard in the top of the 10th, setting up Grant to lead it off.

She doubled to right center. A sacrifice bunt by designated hitter Riley Johnson advanced Grant to third. Two failed suicide squeeze attempts by Danielle Chitkowski and Dombrowski each sent her darting within 30 feet of victory before retreating back to third. But Groom’s passed ball let Grant slide into home, sealing the first win of Larkin’s career.

“We always keep fighting,” Watson said. “We wanted to show the younger girls that we never give up in games, and I think they’ll follow our lead.”

Published on March 25, 2013 at 12:58 am

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse