Alicia Hansen couldn’t hold back tears as she walked off the dirt of JoAnne Graf Stadium. The senior and Liverpool (New York) graduate had just grounded out to third base for the final out of the game, ending her career for the school she always dreamed of attending.

Hansen stole more bases in her final year to switch to head coach Shannon Doepking’s system. She played shortstop when sophomore Neli Casares-Maher went down with an injury, even though she hadn’t played the position since high school. So when junior ace Alexa Romero noticed her crying, she wrapped her arms around Hansen.

“She’s a gritty, scrappy kid who just wants to help this team and she’s really, really good,” Doepking said on March 30.

Hansen led the way for the Orange with two hits and one run, but a first inning that featured five walks doomed Syracuse (21-32, 8-16 Atlantic Coast) in a 4-3 defeat to North Carolina State (30-26, 9-15) in the first round of the ACC tournament. Romero threw 57 pitches in the first inning, but recovered to finish all six innings. Her eight walks in the game routinely put Wolfpack runners in scoring position, aiding all four NC State runs. Even though Romero settled down and finished the game, the Orange couldn’t muster enough runs to win the first ACC tournament game in program history.

“Lex doesn’t have to be perfect to keep us in ballgames,” Doepking said earlier this season about Romero. “Lex just needs to be Lex, she needs to stay composed and keep making pitches.”

Romero repeatedly tried to fire backdoor curveballs to right handed hitters in the first inning, but the ball would break too early and fall below the strike zone. When she tried to hit the outside corner, her riseball wouldn’t float over the plate. By the end of the inning, she had allowed three runs on only one hit. 

In the top half of the inning, though, it appeared the Orange had finally accepted Doepking’s system of baserunning. Doepking has preached opportunistic and assertive baserunning, but SU has not always bought in. Doepking has struggled all year, nagging and pleading with the Orange to run when a ball is in the dirt, Doepking said.

“I enjoy watching an aggressive team play,” Doepking said. “I enjoy the flying around, I enjoy the hustle…because I just like the way it looks.”

First, Hansen stole second after a single. After a wild pitch on ball four to sophomore Lailoni Mayfield, Hansen advanced to third. On the very next pitch, Mayfield sprinted to steal second. Hansen, realizing no one was paying attention to her, dashed toward home. But the Wolfpack shortstop tossed the ball home and Hansen tried to evade Wolfpack catcher Madeline Curtis by stepping outside the base path and onto the grass. Following a short conversation between the umpires, Hansen’s dodge was ruled legal.

“She comes with this aggressive and competitive approach that forces teams to be on their A-game to be able to throw her out,” senior outfielder Bryce Holmgren said of Hansen. “I just think it really plays into her personality well.”

But the Orange couldn’t follow up on that first inning. SU totaled only two runs the rest of the game – one from sophomore Gabby Teran on a home run to left field and the other from Holmgren on an RBI double to center. In the inning following Holmgren’s double, NC State pitcher Devin Wallace was relieved for sophomore Kama Woodall.

Woodall’s change-up-heavy arsenal perplexed the Orange, just like the loss to Pittsburgh in late April. She retired nine straight batters, including Hansen in the seventh inning. 

“I don’t have really an answer for the change-up,” Doepking said in April after a loss to the Panthers. “The more you see it, the more you’d think we can adjust to it, but we’re not adjusting to it. In practice, before games, we’re doing the same thing. I don’t really have an answer for that.”  

On Wednesday, in Syracuse’s most important game of the season, Doepking’s team still struggled with the change-up. And after Romero’s disastrous first inning, it ended the Orange’s season. 

Published on May 8, 2019 at 5:32 pm

Contact Adam: adhillma@syr.edu | @_adamhillman