Notre Dame’s 4-run 6th inning dooms Syracuse in 6-2 loss
Notre Dame scored three of its four sixth-inning runs with two outs, dooming Syracuse in its 6-2 loss Friday. Charlie Hynes | Staff Photographer
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Notre Dame’s Caitlyn Early had one pitch in mind when she entered to pinch hit against Syracuse. Teammates stood on second and third, so she was looking for an opposite-field hit.
“With the runners on, I was looking for something to drive to the right side to advance them,” Early said.
Early drove the first pitch foul and watched the next three finish high or in the dirt. Then, the pitch she was searching for came.
It was a dropball, SU pitcher Julianna Verni’s signature pitch, just a little closer to the center of the plate than Early wished. But she still swung at it. Early smoked the ball onto the right-center warning track, clearing the bases. It was precisely what she said she’d do.
Early’s two-run single was part of a commanding sixth inning for Notre Dame (18-26, 7-12 Atlantic Coast), which sealed its 6-2 win over Syracuse (16-18, 3-11 ACC). The Fighting Irish scored three of their four runs in the frame with two outs. Two were courtesy of Early’s single, before Caroline O’Brien drove in Early shortly after. Following SU’s 7-6 loss to Boston College on April 12, the Orange have now lost two consecutive ACC games due to late four-run rallies.
“We have a pass the bat mentality,” Notre Dame head coach Kris Ganeff said. “If we can not be the third out of the inning, that’s our goal. You don’t want to be the third out.”
Of course, every inning has a third out, but Notre Dame’s ability to execute with runners on was the difference maker Friday. Syracuse outhit ND 9-8. Both teams had innings with the bases loaded, Syracuse in the first and Notre Dame in the sixth, but only the Fighting Irish exited with a multi-run rally.
Notre Dame entered the top of the sixth on the heels of a double play that cut SU’s inning short and maintained ND’s narrow 2-1 lead.
Leading off the next half inning, Notre Dame’s Hayden Kyne was walked by Verni on four pitches. The free pass marked Verni’s fourth of the day and third in such fashion. Verni didn’t fare much better in the next at-bat. Lily Hagan fouled two pitches before knocking a double into deep left-center, advancing Kyne to third.
“Nothing too special,” Hagan said of her approach at the dish. “I just built some momentum for the team, just pass the bat, let whoever was up next get something going.”
Christina Willemssen was slated next, but the momentum Hagan looked to build wouldn’t come immediately. Instead, it swayed toward Syracuse.
Willemssen’s grounder found SU second baseman Lauren Fox, who threw home to snag the charging Kyne. Her throw beat Kyne, and SU dispatched her in the pickle.
The next play mirrored that setup. Notre Dame’s Olivia Levitt laced a single to left, but Hagan collided with third baseman Rose Cano as she rounded third. The collision allowed left fielder Gabby Lantier to get the ball to Cano in time, placing Hagan in a jam. Cano threw to catcher Grace Weaver. The catcher passed it to shortstop Jadyn Burney, who chased Hagan down the basepath and made the tag. The umpires, however, ruled the play an obstruction of the base path, overriding the out.
“We got lucky,” Ganeff said. “It’s lucky, but it’s part of the game. It happens, and we’ll take it.”
Notre Dame took the call and ran with it. Avery Houlihan reached first, and Hagan crossed home on a fielder’s choice. Houlihan stole second, placing two runners in scoring position before Tenley Sweet was due at the plate.
But Sweet didn’t hit. Verni frequented the left side throughout the game, and Ganeff felt the inside pitches were harder for the left-handed Sweet to see. She instead subbed in the right-handed Early.
“It was causing (Sweet) a little havoc,” Ganeff said. “Just to take the pressure off her, we know (Early) has a great eye. She puts a good bat on the ball every time she’s in. I had a lot of confidence that she would get the job done.”
You know the rest. Early and O’Brien’s RBI singles. The three-run rally with two outs. The obstruction call marked a clear shift in SU’s morale.
Syracuse initiated a meeting in the circle after O’Brien’s single. Verni struck out Ava Zachary, who entered with a team-leading .404 batting average, in three pitches immediately after.
Syracuse scored one in the bottom of the frame. But the game was mathematically out of reach. The Fighting Irish had dealt their damage.
