Syracuse unable to translate dominant nonconference pitching to ACC play
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With Syracuse leading 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Iona’s Jamie Sheeran was on second base, threatening to tie the game against fifth-year Texas transfer Ariana Adams.
An error by Angie Ramos put Natalia Meray on base and allowed Sheeran to advance to third. But Adams struck out the ensuing batter to end the game and increase Syracuse’s winning streak to six games.
The streak reached seven games after the Orange defeated Hofstra in the second leg of Sunday’s doubleheader, their largest winning streak of the season. Behind strong pitching, SU’s opponents have scored just 1.7 runs per game, and no team has recorded more than three runs in a single game.
Sophomore Lindsey Hendrix has stepped up for the Orange, allowing only one run in 17.1 innings since the winning streak began on March 15. Hendrix has struck out 17 batters during the stretch, giving up only nine hits.
Syracuse’s record has improved to 17-9, but its Atlantic Coast Conference record still sits at 1-5. The Orange are tied with Pittsburgh and Clemson at the bottom of the conference as the only three teams without multiple ACC wins.
Before the seven-game winning streak where the Orange allowed only 12 total runs, they were swept in three games by No. 6 Virginia Tech, which produced a whopping 27 runs on 30 hits throughout the series. Syracuse mustered only three runs in as many games.
The Orange also dropped two out of three games against NC State. The Wolfpack are 0-6 in conference play excluding the Syracuse series, averaging one run per game over that span. Despite ranking last in the ACC with a .172 batting average during conference play, NC State knocked in 16 runs against the Orange.
Every single pitcher to start a game for Syracuse this season has seen a significant statistical decline in conference games. Hendrix’s 3.40 ERA has skyrocketed to 8.40 against ACC opponents, and her opponent batting average has increased from .246 to .324.
Adams’ overall ERA of 4.25 has increased to 6.22 against conference opponents so far this year, while her opponent batting average rose from .241 to .329. And Kaia Oliver’s ERA increased from 5.36 to 7.00.
Nobody has been impacted more by ACC competition than Summer Clark. Statistically, the freshman has emerged as Syracuse’s top pitcher so far with a team-leading 3.15 ERA. But in her appearances against NC State and Virginia Tech, Clark gave up eight earned runs over 1.2 innings while allowing eight of the 13 batters she faced to reach base.
Ultimately, the overall team ERA has risen from 3.97 to 8.40 in conference play, encapsulating the struggles of Syracuse’s teams of the recent past. Excluding the pandemic-shortened 2020 season in which SU played only three conference games, it hasn’t posted a winning record in conference play since joining the ACC in 2013.
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Last season, head coach Shannon Doepking said the Orange had “nothing to lose” in games against ranked teams as pitching woes highlighted an eight-game stretch that featured seven losses to ranked ACC opponents Virginia Tech and Clemson. This season, with four ACC teams (Florida State, Virginia Tech, Duke and Clemson) ranked inside USA Today’s top 25 this season, matchups against the non-upper echelon ACC teams, such as NC State, become crucial in order for the Orange to stay afloat in the conference standings.
Syracuse’s next two opponents — Georgia Tech and Pittsburgh — are a combined 3-12 in conference play this season. After a dominant week against nonconference opponents, the Orange’s pitching staff has the opportunity to continue that success against a Georgia Tech offense that averages 2.7 runs per game in conference play and a Pittsburgh offense that averages 2.3.
Last year’s series between Syracuse and Georgia Tech was canceled, and the only time they met was in the ACC Tournament when the Yellow Jackets defeated the Orange 6-0. SU had more success against Pittsburgh in the regular season, sweeping the Panthers in a four-game series where the Orange allowed only two runs per game and erupted for 31 total runs.
The series featured stellar pitching performances, including a complete-game shutout from Hendrix that saw the Panthers muster only three base runners. Potentially replicating that performance in the team’s upcoming stretch of conference play could help the Orange improve on their current winning streak.
