When Lisaira Daniels and Veronica Grant play catch at softball practice, they imagine a runner is rounding third, headed for home plate. The Syracuse outfielders and their teammates treat practice like a game.

‘Even though it’s practice, everything is game-like,’ Daniels said. ‘Whether we’re hitting off a tee, whether coach is tossing front toss, whether we’re just taking regular ground balls, or even throwing.’

With Syracuse (24-5, 3-0 Big East) rolling through its competition during its current eight-game winning streak, SU head coach Leigh Ross is using practice to keep her team sharp. The Orange travels to Tampa, Fla., for a three-game series against South Florida (19-15, 1-0) this weekend.

The eight-game winning streak ties the longest streak in program history. During the run, SU has outscored its opponents 82-16. The team has only trailed for three innings. The dominant streak has posed few challenges for the Orange.

To keep the team focused on improving, Ross said SU will go over game situations with live runners during practice Thursday night. The head coach said she wants to work on its defense in scoring situations. The drills simulate the intensity of a game.

‘Everything’s going to be real game-like and put the pressure on them to perform,’ Ross said.

Ross said Syracuse still needs to improve defensively when other teams are threatening to score. In a decisive sweep of Rutgers last weekend, Ross said the team didn’t have any bad innings, but still had a couple moments when it lost focus.

After Rutgers led off the second inning of the third game with two hits Sunday, junior second baseman Stephanie Watts made a throwing error to load the bases. The next batter gave the Scarlet Knights a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly to right.

Though the Orange has limited its mistakes this season, Ross still wants to see improvement.

‘Usually when we allow a run to score against us, it’s something that we’ve done to ourselves,’ Ross said. ‘So we’re kind of beating ourselves still in that area.’

The head coach also said she was happy to see her team respond immediately. SU got out of the inning and hit three home runs in the top of the third inning to take the lead.

Junior first baseman Kelly Saco said in the past, one error would ‘snowball’ into multiple and a big inning for opponents. This year, though, the team has moved on from its mistakes quickly like it did Sunday.

‘We still came out and the next inning we had three home runs after we had a bunch of errors,’ Saco said. ‘So that shows that we didn’t let that get to us, we put that behind (us).’

Daniels said it was easier to lose focus after winning the opener 23-0. In a record blowout, the team could let its guard down. That relaxed attitude led to some errors in the last two games.

‘When we’re being successful as we were this weekend, sometimes, we can be a little lackadaisical,’ Daniels said. ‘We’re human beings. It happens.’

With a tougher test against South Florida ahead, there will be less room for mistakes. The Bulls lead the Big East with 67 stolen bases, so SU needs to be prepared for their speed defensively.

Ross knows USF’s small-ball strategy will put pressure on her team. Ross said junior pitcher Jenna Caira’s changeup should confuse the Bulls lineup, which often includes five left-handed hitters. The head coach expects Caira to neutralize the running threat.

‘Left-handed hitters really struggle with that changeup. It comes toward them or at them, so they really have a hard time seeing it,’ Ross said. ‘I’m hoping that we don’t let them on to steal.’

Daniels isn’t concerned with her opponent’s speed on the base paths. Right now, she feels that as long as her team continues to work hard, the success will continue.

The intensity at practice will ensure SU stays on track under pressure.

‘Those are the times we’re going to work out all those errors,’ Saco said. ‘That’s big because when you come to it in the game, then you’re going to know what to do.’

rjgery@syr.edu

Published on March 30, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Ryne: rjgery@syr.edu