FSU senior Carsyn Gordon hit a short dribbler down the third base line. As SU pitcher Sophie Dandola charged in to throw the ball home, Seminole freshman Savannah Parker appeared to be running into an easy out at the plate.

Rather than get thrown out, though, Parker turned back to third. SU catcher Gianna Carideo could have done what the Orange have practiced.

“When two people are going to the same base, one of them will be out,” SU head coach Shannon Doepking said.

But Carideo didn’t make the right play. A rundown began, and eventually, the Orange forgot to rotate and cover home. Third baseman Hannah Dossett made a desperation throw, one that shouldn’t have been necessary if Carideo had just trapped the two runners on third, tagged one out and never thrown the ball.

Dossett’s throw made its way to the backstop, allowing another run to score behind Parker. Instead of 4-0, the scoreboard read 6-0 in the top of the fourth.

From the opening inning, No. 5 Florida State (46-8, 17-5 Atlantic Coast) was aggressive on the basepaths. The Seminoles stole four bases and took extra bases on multiple balls in play to pressure the Orange’s defense in an eventual 8-0 win in six innings. Syracuse (20-29, 8-14) knew coming into the game that the Seminoles would look to run often, but they couldn’t make the simple plays and allowed FSU to take “free bases,” Doepking said.

“From their stats, you know they’re going to run. I need to have a better outing,” Carideo said. “My arm wasn’t where I wanted it to be today. You know where (the pitch) is going to be, it’s about getting your body in the right position.”

The Seminoles had stolen 94 bases on 110 attempts entering Friday’s game, an 85.5% clip.

All season, Doepking has stressed the importance of aggressive baserunning for her own offense. It’s a major reason why senior Alicia Hansen has a career-high number of steals and steal attempts. On Friday, while the Orange failed to reach base until the fifth inning, FSU marched and plodded its way around the bases.

Carideo entered the game throwing out 46% of runners in ACC play, but today, she wasn’t effective. FSU sophomore Cali Harrod led off the opening inning with a walk, and on the first pitch of the next at-bat, stole second base. Carideo’s throw bounced into sophomore Gabby Teran’s glove, but it was way too late. Harrod scored standing up after a Gordon single.

The next at-bat, the Seminoles again tested Carideo’s arm. Her throw to second bounced off Teran’s glove and into center field, which allowed Seminole sophomore Sydney Sherill to take third.

On a later steal attempt by the Seminoles, Carideo lost the ball on the transfer from her glove to her hand and didn’t even manage a throw to second. The mishandle prompted one FSU fan to yell “too easy” after the steal. The Seminoles’ athleticism, which SU said it had seen on film and in the stat sheets, added pressure on SU.

“I’ve thrown out runners before, I know I can do it again,” Carideo said. “it doesn’t matter what they have across their chest.”

The increased pressure showed itself in the Orange throwing the ball across the infield. On one play, a ground ball in the hole to shortstop, a runner advanced from first base to third base after sophmore Neli Casares-Maher made a throw to first that couldn’t beat the runner.

In the sixth inning, with the Orange staving off the eight-run mercy rule, aggressive baserunning manufactured the final run to close out the game. Right fielder Elizabeth Mason went from first to third on a single to center field and then scored on a groundout in the ensuing at-bat. The only baserunning mistake FSU made in an afternoon of successes on the bases came as Alex Acevedo threw to Dossett across the diamond to throw out junior Dani Morgan at third.

“They took bases on us left and right,” Doepking said. “On plays where we don’t have plays, we have to stop throwing the ball across the diamond. ‘Hold the ball, just chill, hang out. It’ll be okay.’”

 

Published on May 3, 2019 at 7:48 pm

Contact Anthony: amdabbun@syr.edu | @AnthonyDabbundo