Sophie Dandola transferred from Hofstra and became Syracuse’s top pitcher

There are two sides of Sophie Dandola. Off the field, teammates described the transfer pitcher as goofy and relaxed. When she steps into the circle, the “bubbly personality” gives way to a fierce, serious competitor, pitcher Miranda Hearn said.

“It’s almost like she’s a different person,” freshman Hannah Dossett said.

After spending her freshman year at Hofstra, Dandola has established herself as the strongest pitcher on Syracuse’s (4-9) staff while ace Alexa Romero deals with a left-hand injury. Dandola has pitched in three of Syracuse’s four wins and leads the team in ERA (2.63), WHIP (1.35) and strikeouts (23). Romero hasn’t pitched since Feb. 15, but she expects Dandola to bolster the top of SU’s rotation.

“She is a difference-maker,” head coach Shannon Doepking said. “We would be really, really not in a good place if we did not have Sophie at this point. With (Romero) not throwing much, (Dandola) has really turned into our ace.”

After leading Hofstra to its first top-25 ranking since 2013 with an 18-5 record and tossing a 58-pitch perfect game in NCAA Regionals, Dandola yearned for tougher competition. Now at Syracuse, she’s gotten what she wished for. Last year’s NFCA Freshman of the Year Finalist has already pitched against three top-25 teams — Oklahoma, Florida, Indiana — in her eight appearances.

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Dandola decided to transfer to Syracuse in mid-July, while Doepking was still coaching at Dartmouth. “I didn’t even have Sophie Dandola in my mind,” Doepking said. When Dandola decided to transfer to Syracuse, the news spread quickly throughout the team.

“The first time I saw her pitch,” Hearn said, “I got so excited, like, ‘Wow we have another great pitcher on this pitching staff.’”

Dossett’s roommate last year, Sammy Fernandez, played on the same travel team as Dandola, Hearn said. Fernandez told Dossett about Dandola’s accomplishments, raising her expectations fpr the Orange’s next pitching star.

“That’s what we needed,” Dossett said, “another really good pitcher on top of (Romero).”

In all three of her wins this year, Dandola pitched the full game. To stay in the game and get batters out, Dandola’s go-to pitch is the drop-ball, which sinks as it approaches the plate and produces more ground outs than fly balls. Dandola puts her body weight on her front leg, grips behind the ball and release late in her motion, she said.

While pitching to contact, the sophomore has still struck out 23 batters in 37 innings. In her best outing of the season, Dandola struck out seven batters in a two-hit complete game shutout against Florida A&M on Feb. 23. Doepking said Dandola still has room to improve, but for now, she’s the Orange’s first option.

“She just has such a big presence to her,” pitcher Miranda Hearn said. “She just kind of has that swagger.”