After North Carolina scored two runs to take a 3-1 lead in the top of the sixth inning, Syracuse saw a chance to cut into that lead with two outs in the bottom half.

Third baseman Danielle Chitkowski roped a two-out double down the left field line that barely snuck to the right of the foul line. After UNC head coach Donna Papa left the dugout to scream at home plate umpire Michael Mazur, center fielder Mary Dombrowski stepped to the plate.

With a 2-2 count, Dombrowski took a pitch on the top outside corner, which Mazur called for strike three. She straightened up, leaned back,and twisted her head back toward the umpire, mouth open in disbelief at the call.

“We had opportunities, we just didn’t capitalize on it when we had the chance,” SU head coach Leigh Ross said.

SU had eight hits, one walk and one batter reach due to error but could muster only the two runs. The Orange (14-9, 1-7 Atlantic Coast) stranded nine base runners in a 6-2 loss to North Carolina (26-10, 10-3) in the second game of a double header at SU Softball Stadium on Friday afternoon.

“There’s not really any saying what the reason for (missing opportunities) is,” shortstop Corinne Ozanne said. “It’s kind of one of those things where you don’t get the big hit at the right time and that’s that.”

In the fifth inning, designated player Alyssa Dewes walked with one out before right fielder Maddi Doane lined a single to right.

With the infield in to protect against a bunt, second baseman Sammy Fernandez hit a slow chopper back to the pitcher. UNC’s Sydney Matzko fielded the ball but couldn’t figure out where to throw it, resulting in a base hit.

“We had to take a strike,” Ozanne, who came to bat next, said. “That mentality is basically getting your timing for all the pitches until she throws you a strike and it’s all a matter of kind of putting the bat on the ball.”

Ozanne didn’t follow directions, though, and swung at the first pitch. Bat hit ball, but the hard grounder went straight to shortstop Kristen Brown. Brown fired the ball home, beating the speedy Dewes to the plate for the second out.

First baseman Sydney O’Hara came up next with the bases still loaded. She worked the count to 2-2 and then hit a sinking line drive to left field. UNC left fielder Tracy Chandless charged in to make the running catch, preserving the 1-1 tie.

“It wasn’t meant to be that inning,” starting pitcher AnnaMarie Gatti said. “I knew that when it was meant to be, this team would explode on it, so I just thought that something bigger was going to happen.”

But that something never came.

In the next inning, Dombrowski was the third out on the controversial strike call. And by the time the Orange got up to bat in the seventh, it was facing a 6-1 deficit.

“The three-four-five-six (hitters), that’s the meat of the lineup there and it’s a tough spot but it’s their job,” Ross said regarding her fourth, fifth and sixth batters combining to go 0-for-10 in the game. “Sometimes it works for you and sometimes it doesn’t.”

SU rallied in the final stanza, loading the bases with one out for O’Hara.

Dewes scored on wild pitch before O’Hara fouled off three straight two-strike pitches. On the next pitch, she struck out swinging. Catcher Julie Wambold represented Syracuse’s last hope, but she popped out to shallow right.

“There’s always missed opportunities, mishit balls, but you’re not always going to hit the balls great every time you hit it,” Ozanne said. “It all comes down to getting the right hit where they’re not and scoring runs.”

Published on April 3, 2015 at 9:49 pm