The ground crews prepared the field. The welcoming weather, atypical in upstate New York, shined brightly over Syracuse Softball Stadium.

The Orange softball team served as the only component that wasn’t ready in its home-field debut.

The bats certainly swung but there was one problem. They didn’t make solid contact for a quality hit. Syracuse’s ineffective offense came on full display, as the Orange dropped its Big East opener to Connecticut, 2-0.

In the second game of its double-header, however, the bats woke up. The Orange evened the series with an 8-5 victory against the Huskies in game two.

The numbers clearly reveal a contradiction. Three hits with zero runs in the first contest compared to 11 hits and eight runs in the second? Someone needed to provide an explanation for these turn of events.

‘The first game was a huge disappointment, said SU head coach Mary Jo Firnbach. ‘There’s no excuse for being flat the first home game with beautiful weather.’

Despite Tanya Rose opening with a lead-off double, the Orange (12-10, 1-1 Big East) left three runners on base. That’s the most the offense would produce the rest of the way. Firnbach noticed that even though UConn pitcher Jess Gurney predictably threw to the outside of the plate, the Orange failed to adjust.

The lacking offense put even more pressure on starting pitcher Courtney Mosch to determine the game on the mound. Mosch throws balls to make batters hit easy ground balls rather than to strike them out. Even that mind-set only carried over to three complete innings, though.

Allie Gendron, UConn’s designated hitter, smacked a first-pitch fastball to centerfield for the stand-up double in the top of the fourth. After first baseman Christine Keeton struck out, third baseman Holly Calcagno hit toward centerfield drove in a runner.

On the Calcagno hit, SU’s center fielder Chanel Roehner threw the ball immediately to tag out Kristina Tolles, Gendron’s pinch runner. The cutoff man, Melissa Kelley, hesitated as she retrieved the ball. With two outs, Kelley initially thought she had a better chance throwing Calcagno out at first since Calcagno threatened to advance to second.

But in doing so, she stepped off a little too much but was able to get back in time. Kelly’s throw was too late and the Huskies opened with a 1-0 lead.

‘My mental aspect was there and my confidence was there,’ Mosch said. ‘I just got beat with my best stuff. You can’t do anything about that.’

At least nothing Mosch could control since she was on the mound. In the next outing, Mosch and the defense found themselves in a bases-loaded jam with one out. But catcher Suzy de Bary grounded into a 3-2-3 double play to end the inning.

The Huskies tacked on another run in the seventh inning. But SU could do nothing to combat the slim advantage. Not the way the Orange swung the bats.

‘For some reason we have this tendency not to come out strong the first game,’ pitcher Erin Downey said.’ I hope we got all of that out from now on. I hope we come out intense at the plate and make contact with the ball.’

In the second game, Downey got her wish and earned the win by using her speed and intensity to intimidate batters. Uncharacteristic to its first performance, the Orange staked an early 2-0 lead in the first inning courtesy of Tanya Rose’s two-run homer.

UConn (7-14, 2-3) tied it up in the fourth, but SU scored six runs in the bottom of the sixth for a 8-2 lead.

The insurance runs didn’t provide quality coverage, however. The Huskies crept back the next inning with three runs, but it wouldn’t be enough.

So why the big offensive difference between each game? ‘I don’t know,’ Firnbach said. ‘If I knew the answer, I’d make a lot of money. I wouldn’t be coaching, I’d have speaker assignments everywhere.’

Published on April 1, 2005 at 12:00 pm