Syracuse outfielder Lisaira Daniels has a dream. In it, the Orange defies all conventional expectations and wins the national championship.

‘Do I dream about winning the national championship? Yes, of course I do,’ Daniels said. ‘I could see us getting to the College World Series. We have so much talent and heart that we can play at that level.’

Daniels sees no reason why this dream can’t become a reality. And she was irritated by the lack of respect Big East coaches had for the Orange heading into this season.

‘Since we won the Big East last year, we have a target on our back. But people still viewed that as a Cinderella story,’ Daniels said. ‘They still ranked us fourth coming into this season, so that was like a slap in the face. It’s almost like we have to win the Big East again this year.’

Syracuse became the lowest seeded team in Big East history to win the conference tournament in 2010 after it finished the regular season ranked fifth. Nearly a year later, the Orange (31-11, 9-5 Big East) is holding down that very same position in the middle of the Big East standings — even though it is just one win shy of matching last season’s total with 10 games left in the regular season.

Beginning with today’s nonconference doubleheader against Binghamton (20-15, 8-3 America East), SU enters a stretch of seven winnable games against the Bearcats, Big East bottom feeder Seton Hall (15-27, 3-14) and Niagara (18-14, 6-4 Metro Atlantic Athletic).

‘We have to just take care of business on the field and not care what the opponent is ranked or where they’re seeded,’ said Jenna Caira, SU’s ace pitcher. ‘(Softball) is so weird. On any given day, anyone could beat anybody.’

With that in mind, the Orange believes it can make some unexpected postseason noise. The notion is backed up by nonconference victories against Western Athletic Conference powerhouses Hawaii (30-16, 8-7) and No. 25 Fresno State (29-11, 13-2).

‘It’s different because last year we were kind of like ‘Oh my gosh, maybe we can win this thing,” Daniels said. ‘But this year we’ve taken on more of an aggressor’s attitude. We’ve played the Alabamas and the Floridas. We beat the Hawaiis and the Louisvilles, and that helps us believe that we can beat those teams.’

But the SU players and coaches understand that for those top-tier games to matter, they have to take care of business against lesser opponents. They’ve done that so far in 2011, compiling a 19-0 record against teams with losing records.

In conference play, though, it’s been a struggle against some of the Big East elite. Syracuse went 0-5 against second-place Notre Dame (35-8, 11-1) and third-place South Florida (32-18, 12-3).

The Orange can continue to dominate lesser opponents during this seven-game stretch, starting with Binghamton, by overwhelming teams offensively. The team has scored nine or more runs in 12 games this season.

Binghamton has surrendered nine or more runs only twice this season.

‘Offensively, one through nine, we’ve been 20 times better this year,’ Daniels said. ‘We’re driving in more runs, getting on base and knowing and understanding our roles.’

Caira thinks SU’s ability to compete with top-tier teams is due to the growth of a group of players that has been through this journey together for a few years now.

‘It honestly has to do with experience,’ Caira said. ‘Girls have been in pressure situations before and in this season, too. This year we’re taking baby steps so we can win some of those games. We’re also doing a real good job winning the games we’re supposed to win.’

With such improvement, Daniels also didn’t hesitate to clarify her dream as something more than just a generic goal. She thinks it has the potential to become reality.

But for that to happen, the Orange can’t take the next seven games lightly. Even though the team plays weaker competition, these games will help set up a potential postseason run.

‘We have potential to be in the national championship,’ Daniels said. ‘And we’re definitely hungry for it, so that’s a start.’

jdsaffre@syr.edu

 

Published on April 27, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Jarrad: jdsaffre@syr.edu