It was 7:51 p.m. on Saturday at Ulmer Stadium in Louisville, Ky. The final out of the Big East championship was recorded an hour prior. The stands were forsaken.

Almost all of the 842 people who attended the game had departed.  Nearly all of them left wearing red in support of Louisville.

On the field, the story was different. It told of jubilation, excitement and triumph.

Fifth-seeded Syracuse had just upset No. 3 seed Louisville on the Cardinals’ home field to win the program’s first Big East tournament, and the team intended to revel in the moment.

‘We were out there for about a good hour,’ sophomore Lisaira Daniels said in a phone interview after the game. ‘Everyone was gone, and we were still on the field dancing, carrying on and taking pictures.’

Syracuse (32-24) completed a remarkable run through the Big East tournament by knocking off the Cardinals, 2-1, to capture the first conference championship in program history. After defeating No. 4 Villanova and No. 1 DePaul to reach the final, this was the team’s third upset in as many days. With the win, SU clinched the Big East’s automatic bid for the NCAA tournament.

The Orange will take on Oklahoma Friday in its opening game of the tournament. SU was placed in the College Park (Md.) Regional with the Sooners, Fordham and host Maryland.

Sophomore pitcher Jenna Caira turned in a gutsy performance for the Orange, overcoming 12 illegal pitches and six walks to earn her second victory of the tournament.

Illegal pitches had already been a source of controversy in the opening games of the tournament. After not being called for a one illegal pitch in her complete-game win over Villanova on Thursday, Caira was called for illegal pitches four times in the first inning of Friday’s semifinal win over DePaul. This forced head coach Leigh Ross to take her out of the game.

‘It was so confusing,’ Caira said. ‘When we played that first game against Villanova, they didn’t call it on me so I didn’t think it was going to be a problem. Then once I got to DePaul in the biggest game of the year I was incredibly shocked.’

But unlike the game against DePaul, Caira remained in the circle. Despite three illegal pitches in the first two innings, she escaped without allowing a run. Meanwhile, the SU offense got going early to give Caira a cushion to work with.

The Orange got its first run after just five batters had stepped to the plate. Singles by Daniels and catcher Lacey Kohl drove in second baseman Stephanie Watts. SU extended its lead to 2-0 in the bottom of the second when back-to-back infield hits put first baseman Kelly Saco in scoring position. She later reached home on a Louisville throwing error. The early offensive output gave SU confidence as the underdog.

‘People just thought we got to the championship game off of pure luck,’ Daniels said. ‘I think it was huge for us to score in the first two innings, because Louisville thought they probably had it in the bag. We wanted to show in the beginning that our offense is key.’

However, two runs were all the Orange could muster. Facing the squad with the second highest team batting average in the Big East, the final stretch became a question of whether or not SU could hang on.

‘As long as the illegal pitches weren’t going to hurt us, we were going to see how long we could get away with it,’ Ross said.

They nearly didn’t.

Louisville got one run back in the top of the third and applied pressure throughout the remainder of the game. The Cardinals had the tying run in scoring position in each of the final three innings, stranding eight base runners in total.

Defense saved the day for the Orange, as Caira continued to battle from within the circle. Twice, first baseman Kelly Saco made phenomenal stretch-plays to scoop low throws.

But Saco saved the best for last. With Louisville down to its final two outs, Chelsea Bemis, the Big East Player of the Year, stepped to the plate and ripped a line drive towards right field. Saco made a sprawling grab to her right, stood and fired to second base — doubling up the Cardinals’ Jennifer Esteban.

Double play. Game over. SU wins.

In an empty ballpark, Syracuse players and coaches wore T-shirts that boasted the words ‘Big East Champions.’ With an 11-hour bus ride ahead of them, they were in no hurry to cut their celebration short. Daniels and freshman Veronica Grant crept up behind their coach and doused her with ice-cold Gatorade. It was a feeling she would never forget.

‘The Gatorade bath was probably one of the best feelings in the world,’ Ross said. ‘I was completely soaked, freezing cold and smelling like lemon-lime, but it was so worth it.

‘It was awesome.’

 

Mjcohe02@syr.edu

Published on May 15, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13