Leigh Ross walked out of the dugout to hand the ball to Brittany Gardner in the third inning of game one of Syracuse’s doubleheader against Niagara.

The Orange had just gained the lead, but Niagara was threatening to take it back, and the Syracuse head coach looked to Gardner to stop the bleeding in the middle of the third, even though the sophomore had thrown 14 innings this past weekend.

Gardner did exactly what Ross asked, and more. She pitched the next 11 2/3 innings to preserve a doubleheader sweep for the Orange. Syracuse defeated Niagara, 6-4 and 2-1, Tuesday at the Syracuse Softball Stadium as Gardner earned both wins. She struck out 10 Purple Eagles in the nightcap, a season-high.

‘I expect that out of myself,’ Gardner said. ‘I never expect anything less than going the distance.’

One thing Gardner didn’t expect was to pitch both games. She thought she might see some playing time in one, but because she threw 14 innings over the weekend, she wasn’t expecting much action, and it showed when she first entered the game.

After freshmen southpaw Angie Spagnelli struggled in her start, Gardner took the mound in relief with runners on first and second, but she loaded them up after hitting the first batter she faced. Niagara’s Tory Healy then singled to right driving in another run.

After a sacrifice fly scored another run, Gardner wound up and the ball slipped out of her hand, rolling behind her and allowing a runner on third to score easily. The Orange escaped the inning clinging to a 5-4 lead.

The runners Gardner inherited scored, but they were the last earned runs that would cross the plate rest of the day. After a shaky start, she finished the day having thrown 11 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run and striking out a combined 13 Purple Eagles.

‘You could tell that something was just off (in the beginning),’ Ross said. ‘But she kind of picked it up and around the fifth inning started coming around and shutting them down. Her pitches started working. You could see it early on that she was struggling to get her pitches to work but five, six, seven she was throwing well.’

Since Ross had to make a pitching change so early in game one, it was fairly obvious to her that Chanel Roehner would make the start in the second game. But Gardner changed her mind as the game progressed.

‘In between games we thought, ‘We might as well just keep rolling with Brit,” Ross said. ‘She’s doing fine if she can get us a couple innings then Chanel (Roehner) can come and finish up. But she kept rolling, I was very proud of her.’

Gardner breezed through the first four innings of the second game striking out six but showed signs of tiring during the fifth and sixth. She began the fifth with walk. A sacrifice bunt and a base hit allowed the runner to get to third. Healy, the Purple Eagles cleanup hitter, then entered the batter’s box with her .400 batting average and six home runs.

Like she did all day, though, Gardner had the answer, albeit a near catastrophe. Healy hit a deep fly ball that barely stayed in the park as Roehner made the catch in center field with her back against the wall to preserve SU’s lead.

‘There were times when they had runners in scoring position but I just knew, I’ve done this a million times, there’s no question I could get out of it,’ Gardner said.

Syracuse held a 1-0 lead for much of the game until the sixth, when a Gardner throwing error eventually led to a run for Niagara, tying the game.

But the pitcher who saved Syracuse received some relief from her teammates in the bottom of the sixth. Rachel Tilford and Lindsay Wasek hustled down the line for a pair of infield hits, then freshman Tawni Irvine drove Tilford home with a line drive up the middle. It was not only the game winner, but Irvine’s first career RBI as well.

‘We always want it for (Gardner),’ Irvine said. ‘She’s an awesome pitcher, and she really works hard. We always, always want it for her.’

Once the Orange took back the lead, it turned to Gardner who showed no signs of slowing down, retiring the last five batters in a row, three of which came on swings and misses.

‘I just knew I had to dig down, deep down inside,’ Gardner said. ‘It wasn’t like ‘Oh I have to make this pitch sharper.’ I just had to find my zone, and once I’m there, I’m there.’

mibonner@syr.edu

Published on April 8, 2008 at 12:00 pm