On-Base Struggles Continue for Orange in Loss to Colgate

By Tom Russo

CitrusTV Softball Beat Reporter

HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Orange have struggled with situational hitting as of late. They got six hits in each game against Duke, but scored just five runs through the series because most of those hits came without runners on base.

This trend continued on Wednesday when Syracuse (18-23, 7-8 Atlantic Coast) had nine hits off but lost to Colgate (18-21, 3-6 Patriot League) 4-2.

The Orange failed to get hits with runners in scoring position.

Four hits came with the bases empty, and only two of the remaining five came with runners in scoring position. Those two hits were Alicia Hansen’s two RBI doubles, which accounted for all of Syracuse’s scoring on the afternoon.

Syracuse left nine runners stranded on base as SU failed to convert in clutch situations in almost every inning.

In the second inning, Alex Acevedo led off with a walk before AJ Kaiser put a double in the right center field gap, setting up runners on second and third with no outs. Lailoni Mayfield flew out to left, and Acevedo was called out for leaving early as she tried to tag up from third.  Gianna Carideo then also flew out to left to end the inning.

The Orange stranded two base runners a piece in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. However, Syracuse broke through in the fifth with Hansen’s first RBI double.

Syracuse showed glimmers of hope when Hansen picked up her second RBI double in the seventh with one out. But, the last two batters failed to reach base with Acevedo grounding out to short and Kaiser lining out to second to finish the game.

Syracuse’s next chance to solve their situational hitting woes comes on Friday when the Orange begin a three-game series with Pittsburgh (7-37, 2-13 Atlantic Coast) at 4:00 p.m.

twrusso@syr.edu ǀ @TomRusso24