In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader against North Carolina, Syracuse tallied nine hits and twice loaded the bases. But the Orange managed only two runs in a 6-2 loss.

Over the last three weeks, SU scored more than four runs twice, and both in losses. Only when the Orange is trailing does it seem to get its offense going.

“I don’t know if there’s a switch that goes off where it’s like, ‘Gosh, what do we got to lose here?’” head coach Leigh Ross said.

The team is tightening up when the score’s tight, Ross added, and trying to tie the score with one swing of the bat.

SU (14-19, 1-7 Atlantic Coast) is averaging less than four runs per conference game and sits last in the league in runs scored, batting average, slugging and on-base percentage. Syracuse’s coaches attributed the team-wide slump to self-imposed pressure.

“Everybody is trying to do too much and we’re not just following our practice,” infielder Corinne Ozanne said. “It’s just become too much pressure that we’re putting on ourselves to succeed.”

Ozanne is the only Orange hitter batting over .300 and leads the team in nearly every offensive category. Still, her home run rate and average have dropped as the season has progressed — though she did record three hits over the weekend.

“It’s hard to get out of a slump,” Ozanne said. “Once you get out of a slump, it’s easier to say where you want to hit the ball.”

The team’s hitting woes are not a result of facing ACC pitching, Ozanne said, because SU hit well in conference play last season. She pointed to the team’s three-game series with Louisville, during which the team scored 22 runs.

Still, SU failed to win any of those games and most of its runs were scored while behind. Ross said that if she knew why the team could only score runs when losing, the team wouldn’t be losing games in the first place.

“At the end of the day, I don’t care if we hit zero as long as we get wins,” hitting coach Matt Nandin said.

Nandin attributed part of the problem to having a lineup reliant on multiple freshmen who aren’t used to this long of a season.

Additionally, the Orange has faced an inconsistent game and practice schedule with inclement weather in Syracuse. The team has rarely been able to practice outside, where the lighting is different, and therefore unable to truly get its timing down.

“Hitting live in (Manley Field House) is a completely different element,” said Nandin, who noted he didn’t want to use practice locations as an excuse.

Over the weekend, SU tallied enough hits and had enough base runners to win both games, but struggled with timely hitting in the second game. The team had nine strikeouts, down from 16 in the previous double-header.

But other than Ozanne, the middle of SU’s lineup struggled mightily.

“Everybody through the lineup did a good job with just getting one quality at-bat, worried about that instead of thinking big picture and trying to score a bunch of runs,” Ross said after the game.

But thus far, those quality at-bats haven’t translated into conference wins.

Published on April 6, 2015 at 10:44 pm