Leigh Ross has seen her share of bad weather over the years. The Syracuse head coach said the team usually finds a way to play through the weather. But in the second game of a doubleheader against Georgetown on Tuesday, Ross experienced a personal first.

‘First tornado warning,’ she said. ‘That’s the first time for that, but we usually play in anything. This was a little different, a little scarier when it’s a tornado.’

The two teams decided to pack up in a rain delay and meet at Manley Field House at about 5:15 p.m. for a final decision. Afterward, the game was officially canceled, according to the SU Athletics website. The first lightning delay came at 3:13 p.m., with Lacey Kohl at the plate in the bottom of the second inning. With SU out in front 3-1, it was another precious game lost to the weather as the team tries to build an at-large resume for the NCAA tournament.

The rainout in game two came after the Orange (31-11, 9-5 Big East) defeated the Hoyas (12-37, 5-9) 9-0 in game one.

After the first delay, Georgetown packed up its equipment and headed for the team bus while Orange players ran to their cars in the parking lot as it started to rain. The teams returned to the field at about 4 p.m. to remove the tarp and warm up, but the rain picked up minutes later and the delay continued. The field was covered with puddles and flooded around home plate.

SU players removed the tarp again at 4:18 p.m. One minute later, it started to rain again, prompting a collective, ‘Are you kidding me?’ from the Orange. The rain only lasted a few minutes, so the grounds crew began to prepare the field for the game.

As the grounds crew put dry dirt on the field and raked it, Lisaira Daniels said, ‘We’re playing this game.’

But another lightning strike at about 4:45 p.m. delayed the game again. Georgetown reloaded the bus, and SU took its equipment to a storage room.

The teams finally gave in as the Orange Alert sirens blared at about 5:15 p.m.

For SU, it was the fourth cancellation of the season. The team missed out on a game against Notre Dame after the Irish had travel issues. And SU canceled a doubleheader against Cornell after rain forced its series with Providence to be moved.

The poor weather is hurting SU’s chances to make the NCAA tournament.

With tough competition in the Big East, it won’t be easy for the Orange to repeat as tournament champions and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Ross said the team is shooting for 40 wins to make its case. But with only 10 games left, the Orange would have to win nine of those games to reach its goal.

Ross said Syracuse has tried to schedule extra games with Colgate, Cornell, Siena, Buffalo and Albany to make up for the cancellations, but SU hasn’t had any luck. Ross said the other teams have had weather issues and struggled to fit games in around their conference schedules.

For Ross, the bad weather has just been a part of this season.

‘You really can’t plan for it,’ Ross said. ‘We can’t even get on our field and practice. It’s just been one of those years, and that happens every now and then.’

Syracuse wins first game 9-0

Syracuse defeated Georgetown 9-0 Tuesday at SU Softball Stadium. The second game of a planned doubleheader was canceled after a rain delay of approximately two hours.

The Orange used a big first inning in the win. SU ace Jenna Caira loaded the bases after walking two batters and hitting one with a pitch, but got out of the jam with a strikeout. The SU lineup scored three runs in the bottom half of the inning highlighted by a two-run home run by Kohl.

Caira settled down after the first inning, allowing just two hits and no walks in her last four innings in the circle. Stacy Kuwik pitched one inning in relief.

Syracuse scored four runs on six hits in the bottom of the fourth inning to break open the game. Hallie Gibbs’ two-run home run to left-center field in the sixth inning enacted the mercy rule to end the game.

rjgery@syr.edu

 

Published on April 26, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Ryne: rjgery@syr.edu