Morgan Nandin doesn’t like the hits that come straight at her — if she’s not diving or sliding, it’s not fun.

Manipulating her body to make a play has become a force of habit for the shortstop, dating back to when her father coached baseball at Le Moyne and her brother Matt donned a jersey there.

“I grew up on a baseball field,” she said. “After every baseball game, I’d go out there and I’d practice and I would try and copy Derek Jeter, try and do all these crazy plays. It’s kind of just like muscle memory now and it’s just fun.”

With that agility propelling Syracuse (17-24, 5-9 Big East), the Orange edged Seton Hall (16-24, 4-10) 4-3 in the final game of a three-game weekend series against the Pirates at SU Softball Stadium in front of 251. On Saturday, Syracuse dropped two games to Seton Hall, including a high-scoring 16-15 affair in which a 10-run Syracuse comeback wasn’t enough.

Nandin had plenty of opportunities to dive and slide during the weekend’s three-game series against the Pirates, including a play to open the fourth inning of Sunday’s game. Nandin dove for the ball and turned a razor-sharp throw to first.

Later in the inning, Nandin spearheaded a double play by making the throw to catcher Ashley Dimon. She was able close in on a runner at third, getting the ball to Corinne Ozanne for the tag. Ozanne turned the ball for another out at second to the delight of the crowd, which stomped in approval against the metal bleachers.

Nandin converts on high-drama plays that aren’t conceivable for other shortstops, head coach Leigh Ross said. Watching Nandin practice mid-air spins during practice has become routine.

“She just makes plays that most shortstops don’t even get to. It’s not even an option,” Ross said. “She’ll practice that move in practice, just to get extras.”

On Sunday, headed by Nandin’s defensive play and three home runs, Syracuse kept the Pirates at bay, staving off a sixth-inning push that tied the game at three. Syracuse managed to recover from a shaky fifth inning from second baseman Mary Dombrowski, who misjudged an infield pop fly that landed feet from her. In the same inning with the bases loaded, Dombrowski rushed fielding a ground ball, allowing it to roll beyond her ankles.

Before Syracuse could recover, Seton Hall sent two runners home, leveling the game 3-3.

After Nandin snatched the final out to close the inning, designated hitter Danielle Chitkowski answered during Syracuse’s first sixth-inning at-bat, sending the ball sailing left of the scoreboard, but in fair territory. Dombrowski breathed a sigh of relief from the dugout, thanking Chitkowski after she crossed home plate.

“When she came out, she was like, ‘I hit that one for you,’” Dombrowski said of Chitkowski.

The home run capped off a solid offensive effort. A pair of homers at the bottom of the third by right fielder Shirley Daniels and first baseman Jasmine Watson, respectively, gave Syracuse the early cushion it needed to eke out a win.

But Syracuse’s win on Sunday wasn’t confined to the plate or fielding. The pitching was there, too. Ross, who was critical of Syracuse’s pitching following Saturday’s losses, said Stacy Kuwik recovered nicely Sunday.

Pitching the entirety of Sunday’s game, Kuwik allowed six hits and had a hand in every seventh-inning out to close the game. She struck out Seton Hall’s Jordan Moses, then followed that play by retrieving an airborne hit for the second out. With two outs and no runners on, Kuwik raced to the first base bag as Watson retrieved a grounder. Positioning herself to beat the Seton Hall runner for the tag, Kuwik closed out the final inning and solidified Syracuse’s win in decisive fashion.

Coming back from Saturday’s losses was important for the Orange, but less than three weeks short of the Big East tournament, shortstop Nandin recognizes the team has to approach its remaining games with added urgency.

“We really needed this win today,” Nandin said. “The season’s really winding down and we need to buckle down and get every win we possibly can.”

Published on April 21, 2013 at 11:59 pm

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