SB | SU breaks out of early season funk with 7 wins over break
By Michael Bonner
Posted: 3/17/08, 11:59 PM EST Section: Sports
The Syracuse softball team might have gone over the top after its win over Sam Houston on March 7. After 13 losses to start the season, one could probably forgive the Orange for acting out after its first win.
"After that win I remember going to the mound and hugging (Chanel Roehner) and thinking we should've beat that team, it wasn't the World Series," Syracuse head coach Leigh Ross said. "But I just felt so good and so proud of her and of the team."
Roehner took the mound against Sam Houston and led the Orange to a 3-2 victory. After a 2-13 start last year, Syracuse followed it up with a historically bad 0-13 start. Roehner, the only senior on the team to play at Syracuse all four years, balked at the idea of letting the streak continue.
"It was the first time I saw one kid step up, and it kind of looked like she was just tired of it," Ross said. "Tired of losing, tired of being embarrassed because we were better than that, she stepped up and kind of put the team on her back and said 'Let's go you guys.'"
Her teammates responded. SU left the USF Invitational going 3-2 in the tournament, with wins over Sam Houston, Fairfield and Quinnipiac. Then the Orange followed up that performance at the College of Charleston Classic in Charleston, S.C. by winning four of five games.
SU finally clicked in all three facets of the game: pitching, hitting and fielding. Syracuse (7-16) entered the tournament hitting .174 as a team. After five games in Tampa and five more in Charleston, the Orange gained nearly 70 points on its team batting average as it ballooned to .243.
To complement the increased offensive production, the pitching staff shut down its opponents. Roehner and Brittany Gardner combined for a 7-1 record. Together, the two pitchers tossed 51.2 innings with a combined ERA of 2.03 while striking out 42 and allowing 20 walks.
"It's only natural to keep thinking, when is the first (win) going to come?" Ross said. "Even wondering, are we going to get a win this year? I think once that one came everyone kind of had a sigh of relief and knew we got the first one out of the way so now we can just play ball."
"After that win I remember going to the mound and hugging (Chanel Roehner) and thinking we should've beat that team, it wasn't the World Series," Syracuse head coach Leigh Ross said. "But I just felt so good and so proud of her and of the team."
Roehner took the mound against Sam Houston and led the Orange to a 3-2 victory. After a 2-13 start last year, Syracuse followed it up with a historically bad 0-13 start. Roehner, the only senior on the team to play at Syracuse all four years, balked at the idea of letting the streak continue.
"It was the first time I saw one kid step up, and it kind of looked like she was just tired of it," Ross said. "Tired of losing, tired of being embarrassed because we were better than that, she stepped up and kind of put the team on her back and said 'Let's go you guys.'"
Her teammates responded. SU left the USF Invitational going 3-2 in the tournament, with wins over Sam Houston, Fairfield and Quinnipiac. Then the Orange followed up that performance at the College of Charleston Classic in Charleston, S.C. by winning four of five games.
SU finally clicked in all three facets of the game: pitching, hitting and fielding. Syracuse (7-16) entered the tournament hitting .174 as a team. After five games in Tampa and five more in Charleston, the Orange gained nearly 70 points on its team batting average as it ballooned to .243.
To complement the increased offensive production, the pitching staff shut down its opponents. Roehner and Brittany Gardner combined for a 7-1 record. Together, the two pitchers tossed 51.2 innings with a combined ERA of 2.03 while striking out 42 and allowing 20 walks.
"It's only natural to keep thinking, when is the first (win) going to come?" Ross said. "Even wondering, are we going to get a win this year? I think once that one came everyone kind of had a sigh of relief and knew we got the first one out of the way so now we can just play ball."
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