Alexa Romero shuts out Pitt in up-and-down outing

Alexa Romero was trying too hard to get swing-and-misses. She focused too much on nipping the corners of the plate, and it wasn’t working.

Two Pittsburgh singles and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases in the first inning. The jam prompted pitching coach Miranda Kramer to confer with Romero in her circle.

“Throw the ball and just spin it like you know how,” Romero remembers Kramer telling her. “Let your defense work for you, you can’t strike everyone out.”

Romero listened. After Kramer retreated to the dugout, Syracuse’s ace struck out the next two Panthers to end the inning.

Even though Romero struggled with her control — she walked two and hit two others — and only fanned four batters, she stranded 11 Panthers in five innings and enjoyed a myriad of run support from her offense. In Syracuse’s (19-23, 8-8 Atlantic Coast) 10-0 rout of Pitt (7-38, 2-14) earned her 13th win of the season.

“She wasn’t as sharp as she normally is, but Lex doesn’t have to be perfect to keep us in ballgames,” head coach Shannon Doepking said. “Even on some of her worst days, she’s still really, really good.”

After Romero escaped the first inning unscathed, she screamed “Let’s go!” to catcher Gianna Carideo. Syracuse’s batters interpreted the message as a plea for run support. In the bottom of the first, left fielder Lailoni Mayfield singled Gabby Teran (3-for-3, 3 RBI) home and later scored on an error. Freshman AJ Kaiser (2-for-2, 3 RBI) put Syracuse up 4-0 later in the inning with a two-run home run to right-center.

Now with a comfortable lead, Romero relaxed and pitched to contact.

“I didn’t have to press so much,” Romero said, “and as a team, as a defense, we knew just knew that we had to make the routine plays.”

Romero began the top of the second painting the corners, alternating between her riseball and curve. She struck out Connor McGaffic, but then lost her control again, allowing a single and a walk. With two outs and runners on second and third, Romero delivered a riseball and got Hunter Levesque to hit a weak pop-up right back to her for the final out.

Romero ran into trouble in the next inning, too, but stranded two more runners in scoring position.

“She doesn’t need to be perfect, and we have her back,” Teran said.

Led by Kaiser, Teran and Hannah Dossett, Syracuse added five more runs to its lead. As Syracuse’s offense continued to execute, Romero remained steady. She allowed three base-runners in the next two innings, but prevented any from touching home.

“I just made sure my ball was moving,” Romero said. “The more movement, the more spin on the ball, then if they hit the ball the more likely it’s going to go up and down. “

The 10-run mercy rule ended the game prematurely after the fifth inning, giving Romero her 14th complete game of the season. She finished with six hits allowed in five innings of work.

Since March 23, sophomore shortstop Neli Casares-Maher watched Romero rack up the fourth-most strikeouts in the conference from the dugout because of a lower leg injury. But on Friday, Casares-Maher returned to the lineup and her vantage point reverted back to short.

“It’s just fun to watch her do what she does,” Casares-Maher said. “It’s awesome.”