Sporting dark blue sunglasses and an orange headband, senior Hannah Dossett laughed while waiting to field a ground ball pregame on Saturday. The usually quiet third baseman had good reason to be happy. For the first time since March 17, she was in the starting lineup.

“The coaches just needed me to be able to play today and I said OK,” Dossett said. “They asked me if I was going to be good today and I said, ‘OK.’”

After a month with an unspecified injury, Dossett tallied two hits, both singles, in five at-bats as Syracuse (18-22, 7-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) dropped both games of its doubleheader to Duke (23-23, 10-8). On the field, Dossett sacrificed her body for multiple diving catch attempts.

Doepking called on Dossett to return following Toni Martin’s forearm injury on April 12.  Martin sat on the bench 5-1 and 3-2 defeats to Duke with athletic tape draped around her wrist, thumb, and palm. The injury forced freshman Jessica Skladal to center field. Sophomore Lailoni Mayfield, who had played third since Dossett’s injury, started in left field. And Dossett returned to third base.

“I just said ‘The team needs you. We lost a big spot in the outfield,’” Doepking said. “(Dossett) is the only one that we could feel confident in sticking out there.”

For weeks following the away series at Louisville on March 15, Dossett did not swing a bat. She rehabbed with assistant strength and conditioning coach Mike Missen every day, Dossett said. She did a variety of different core exercises, including dead bug holds. She bent her knees so that her shins were parallel to the floor and crunched up into a crouched position.

As well, she took a more active role on the bench, sophomore Gabby Teran said. Early on in her recovery, the more introverted Dossett recognized that team-wide chants and trash talk can boost team morale. Even though she had previously sat back and allowed her teammates to yell at opposing pitchers, Dossett started to join in.

“I’m quiet and there were a lot of times where I was being that loud,” Dossett said. “I think definitely as a teammate I grew.”

In the first game, Dossett routinely saved hits with her fielding. She recognized slap hits and sprinted towards home plate to grab and throw the ball to first and handled bobbled ground balls to put out Blue Devil baserunners.

In the fifth inning, Syracuse trailed the Blue Devils by two runs. Duke had an opportunity to extend the lead with a runner on second. Duke sophomore Rachel Abboud fouled off a low pitch down the third base line. Dossett dove towards the ball, throwing her body toward the ground. The ball dropped just outside of her glove. She hopped back up and sprinted back toward the third base bag.

Dossett admitted that the injury is in her head during plays like that, but refuses to allow it to affect her decision making.

Doepking said. “When she goes in the air, she’s not like ‘maybe I shouldn’t do this.’ It’s more like go get the ball.”

Published on April 13, 2019 at 9:00 pm

Contact Adam: adhillma@syr.edu | @_adamhillman