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Lindsey Hendrix had just forced a groundout to Virginia Tech’s Kelsey Brown, dropping the .426 hitter to 0-for-4 on the afternoon. Syracuse still trailed by five, but it looked like Hendrix was calming down after giving up two runs in the fourth inning.

After a single up the middle, catcher Grace Chavez grounded to Neli Casares-Maher at shortstop. Casares-Maher’s parents — who traveled from California for the first game they could attend — sat behind home plate, huddled together under a blanket and holding a Syracuse stuffed animal. 

They watched as their daughter flipped the ball to Gabby Teran at second to force an out and as Teran proceeded to drop the ball. On the ensuing play, Jayme Bailey hit a ball to center field, fighting the wind, and Toni Martin misplayed it. The error loaded the bases before Emma Ritter grounded a ball to Teran, which the infielder couldn’t corral. Chavez scored, and Syracuse had committed its third straight error, its fifth of the afternoon.

Syracuse’s defense has remained steadfast this season. Despite an offense that sits near the bottom of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the defense has boasted a 97.1% rate through 31 games. But in SU’s 8-0, no-hit loss to No. 20 Virginia Tech (29-12, 20-11 ACC) on Friday, a season-high five errors, along with other missed opportunities, slowly put the game out of reach for SU (19-17, 11-14).

As Virginia Tech’s lead slowly ballooned, Syracuse’s usually loud bench — which yells unique cheers for each hitter — grew quiet. When head coach Shannon Doepking brought the team in at the circle following their third straight error, players were silent. 

“If we want the chance to compete against a really talented team, we have to clean some things up,” Doepking said postgame.

SU’s had more than two errors only once this season, on March 21 against Duke. Doepking said she knows her team can field, but after consecutive errors from Teran and Casares-Maher, she turned to her assistant coach and said, “When our best players right now are booting these balls over the field, it’s just one of those days.”

The sloppy performance behind starter Alexa Romero and Hendrix out of the bullpen reminded the third-year head coach of SU’s 1-0 win over UMass that began the month. While the team played a clean game, Doepking said it was another game where they “just forget how to catch and throw a ball, field a ball.” That UMass game — which took place on a 34-degree, overcast day — featured similar weather to Friday’s matchup, one played under a National Weather Service warning for wind.

“Some of it I think is getting out of our own way,” Doepking said. “Everybody’s playing in this environment. It’s not just Syracuse.”

Toni Martin had a fielding error in Syracuse’s loss to Virginia Tech. Will Fudge | Staff Photographer

Even when the Orange weren’t committing one of their five registered errors, they were frequently out of position defensively. In the top of the third inning, Doepking had Casares-Maher shade in and to her right, leaving a large gap between her and second base. Cameron Fagan noticed the unoccupied space and proceeded to slap a single into it. Two batters later, Casares-Maher let a Bailey grounder between her legs, setting up runners at the corners that eventually led to a second run in the inning.

After Romero was subbed out for Hendrix, Casares-Maher fumbled the next ground ball, loading the bases. Syracuse ended the inning down 5-0 with just one batter having reached base via a walk.

“These are just routine plays that we’re more than capable of making, but we kind of got to settle down a little bit,” Doepking said.

After Teran’s error extended the Hokies’ lead to six, Doepking called timeout and let the team know that Hendrix was most likely going to be used throughout Syracuse’s remaining three games against Virginia Tech. Getting out of the inning, she said, alleviated the opportunity for the third-ranked offense in the ACC to see more of Hendrix. She wanted SU to understand that the quicker it got out of the inning, the better positioned Hendrix was for the rest of the series.

“It was honestly just a very calm message of, ‘Chill out, just chill right now,’” Doepking said.

Instead, SU committed another costly mistake. Kelsey Bennett hit a ground ball to Teran. With the bases loaded, the second baseman threw home to force the out, but her shot was low, and catcher Geana Torres couldn’t corral it.

Syracuse has seven games remaining in the regular season — all against top-25 opponents. SU isn’t on the level as other conference opponents such as Florida State, and now Virginia Tech, Doepking said. 

“At the end of the day, I don’t question whether my team can field ground balls or catch fly balls,” Doepking said. “Now, today, were we able to execute? No.”

Published on April 30, 2021 at 7:21 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt