There was only one question that remained Wednesday afternoon as Syracuse head coach Leigh Ross and her team prepared for its home opener against Pittsburgh this Friday. The softball coach had to ponder why her team had been so inconsistent in its last four contests, splitting the quartet after losing both of the first games.

The third year coach is still trying to find the answer.

‘If I had that answer, it would be a lot easier,’ Ross said. ‘You know that’s the frustrating part, because you see them play so well at times, and it’s so hard to just stand by and watch.’

The young Syracuse squad (eight freshman make up the 17 member team), has exhibited a tremendous amount of inconsistency since returning to the east coast. Syracuse hosts Pittsburgh Friday in a doubleheader.

Following its disappointing California road swing, where the Orange was one-hit by west-coast power UCLA, the team has come out flat and succumbed to opposition in both doubleheaders, to only pounce on them in the subsequent games.

In its Big East opener at Seton Hall, Syracuse failed in the batters box, only mustering one hit, and then proceeded to defeat the Pirates with the help of two home runs and a Grand Slam in the next outing.

Against the Bulls, Syracuse’s failures came on the defensive end, as the Orange booted several balls in the dirt in its opening loss, but then had the fight to defeat them in extra innings the following game.

Unlike Ross, Syracuse sophomore Hallie Gibbs may have an explanation for the unexpected inconsistency.

‘I think everyone was pumped and ready to play, and I think that everyone maybe just expected it to come easier than it did,’ Gibbs said. ‘It was a mixture of a mindset of like, it’s just going to come to us, and perhaps over-anxiousness or too much excitement.’

Whatever the reason, Ross and the rest of the Orange aren’t denying their poor play at times, and the fact that it shouldn’t have occurred.

‘Inconsistency, yes, I feel like these girls know what they need to do and how to get it done, but there needs to be a sense of urgency a little earlier,’ Ross said. ‘We need to just play at a consistent level, and after the long layoff I wasn’t expecting the inconsistency, but it’s all in our control.’

Perhaps no inning from the past week better exemplifies the performance of the Orange than the third inning in the first game on Tuesday in Buffalo. After tallying three runs, Syracuse seemed to be in the clear, thanks to the performance of sophomore Angie Sagnelli on the mound. But by the end of the inning, the Orange trailed by one due to several infield errors.

‘It wasn’t that we couldn’t get it done, we just didn’t, because what happens is the floodgates then open,’ Ross said. ‘Again, the bottom line is we didn’t get it done, Angie was pitching well.’

For freshman Gaby Torzilli, success on the diamond will come when things click for an extended period of time.

‘It depends on the game for us, sometimes we suffer defensively, and then at other times we struggle with regards to hitting,’ Torzilli said. ‘We just have to get it all to go at one time, and then we’ll be good.’

As the team’s home slate commences this today, the current question for the squad is when will things click for good?

Right before another hard day of practice, one with much the same feel as those that preceded the squad’s inconsistent showings, Ross contemplated the repercussions if the squad remains inconsistent through conference play.

‘It’s a tough one because I think we are capable of being a very good team,’ Ross said. ‘We have shown glimpses, we could be one of the best teams in the Big East, but it’s all about pulling it together at the right time, and it is really something that is out of coaching control, it is more about the players.’

aolivero@syr.edu

Published on March 26, 2009 at 12:00 pm