Syracuse drops series opener to Louisville, 7-4

Tiarra Sanabria walked back to the Louisville dugout, staring at Syracuse starter AnnaMarie Gatti. Sanabria was Gatti’s first strikeout victim, so Gatti turned to her infielders and recreated the windup. Sammy Fernandez and Alicia Hansen mimicked Gatti then each dabbed twice before Gatti ended the inning, freezing Louisville’s Jenna Jordan with a changeup.

After three strikeouts in the fourth, Gatti produced three groundballs for outs. Through five innings Louisville had mustered only a single hit.

“She looked like a kid that’s in control of the game,” Syracuse head coach Mike Bosch said. “Her ball had a lot of movement. She hit her spots really well.”

But the Syracuse (17-10, 3-4) pitching staff collapsed in the sixth and seventh innings against the Cardinals (19-8, 4-0) in a 7-4 loss Friday afternoon at Onondaga Community College. A late rally in the bottom of the seventh inning couldn’t bring Syracuse all the way back from a six-run deficit. The loss brings Gatti’s record to 5-4 this season.

Due to rain, officials canceled the second game of the scheduled doubleheader.

Louisville opened the sixth inning with a double, single and a sacrifice bunt to put runners on second and third with Megan Hensley up to bat. Gatti then hit Hensley to load the bases. After five innings of no-hit softball, Gatti was pulled — with the bases loaded — for senior Sydney O’Hara.

After being fooled two innings before against Gatti, Jordan cleared the bases against O’Hara with a double to right center. The Cardinals’ third base coach jumped up and swung her arm. The bench erupted as Louisville jumped out to a 3-1 lead.

O’Hara got out of the sixth after giving up the double, but she produced only one out in the seventh inning. She allowed two hits and a walk to load the bases again for Louisville, before being pulled. In only one inning, O’Hara gave up four hits, three earned runs and two walks.

“It was just one of those days,” O’Hara said. “My mechanics were off. I just wasn’t clicking today.”

Playing at Onondaga Community College, rather than SU Softball Stadium, the pitching staff had to adjust to the turf field. O’Hara couldn’t stabilize her back foot and her curveball struggled against the nine batters she faced. It hung over the plate or veered far outside. She had little command of her pitches.

O’Hara, the NCAA leader in saves this season with six, allowed just 12 runs in more than 48 innings. She hadn’t yet entered a game with the bases juiced.

“It just didn’t work,” Bosch said. “Nine times out of 10 it works, but that one time it doesn’t, it looks pretty glaring.”

With the bases loaded, Bosch turned back to his starter, Gatti, to get Syracuse out of the jam.

Two hits, an error and a scary riser to the face later, Gatti found herself in the circle with Syracuse down 7-1. There was no dabbing from the infield, no jumping from the outfield and little cheering from the bench. In two innings, Gatti and O’Hara combined to allow eight hits, seven runs and four walks. They hit two batters.

Syracuse struggled all around on Friday. The Orange had three errors and left eight runners on base. But for five innings its pitching held a powerful Louisville offense at bay. Until the Cardinals’ offense exploded.

“Sooner or later they’re going to put the bat on the ball and put some hits together,” Bosch said. “You just hope they’re not timely.”