Softball

Boston College 1-hits Syracuse in 3rd game of weekend series sweep

Zach Barlow | Asst. Photo Editor

Syracuse struggled at the plate and managed just one hit against Boston College on Sunday. BC swept its weekend series with the Orange.

For the moment, Jessica Dreswick’s no-hit bid was in jeopardy.

Alicia Hansen led-off the sixth with a liner that hit Dreswick’s left leg and ricocheted right to Boston College third baseman Danielle Thomas. It looked, if only for a second, that the hustling Hansen could beat the throw and end Dreswick’s no-hit bid. But Thomas fielded it quickly and threw a strike to first base to get Hansen by a step.

It was one of just two hard-hit balls Syracuse mustered against Dreswick. The other — a Maddi Doane single to center field — eventually broke-up Dreswick’s no-hit bid in the seventh. At the time, BC’s sophomore right-hander was just two outs away from a no-hitter.

Dreswick kicked dirt in frustration after Doane’s liner, but got Corinne Ozanne to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to complete the shutout. Her dominant outing powered the Eagles (28-21, 10-8 Atlantic Coast) past Syracuse (27-24, 9-14), 6-0, Sunday afternoon at SU Softball Stadium, completing BC’s weekend sweep. It was the first time this season Syracuse has been held to just one hit.

The Orange has dropped five of its last six ACC games and sits as the No. 7 seed in the conference. The top eight teams advance to the ACC tournament. For SU to miss the tournament, Pittsburgh will need to take at least two of three at BC. In the No. 9 spot, Georgia Tech will also need to sweep North Carolina next weekend. That would tie Georgia Tech with Syracuse for the No. 8 seed. The Yellow Jackets and Orange split a doubleheader last month.



“She just really controlled the zone,” SU head coach Mike Bosch said. “She didn’t fall behind, she pounded the zone and she hit her spots.”

What came out of Dreswick’s hands Sunday stifled SU hitters. As a light drizzle fell, she jammed hitters, producing several opposite-field foul balls and jam-shots.

Andrea Bombace led off the second inning with a liner off her bat’s handle. She took three steps out of the box, then stopped in her tracks and jogged back to the dugout after shortstop Jessie Daulton corralled it.

The next batter, Hannah Dossett, hit a grounder to second base that snapped her orange Easton bat. Rachel Burkhardt followed with a clunker to shortstop to end the inning.

Dreswick earned ACC co-pitcher of the week honors last week after tossing a no-hitter against North Carolina State. She leads BC with a 13-6 record and 2.19 earned run average and has won six of her last seven decisions. While she only averages 3.45 strikeouts per seven innings, she throws strikes and attacks hitters.

Dreswick allowed only two runners to reach base on Sunday. In the first inning, Doane fell behind 0-2, but worked the count to 3-2 before reaching base on a walk. Doane also reached in the seventh, but that inning, like the first, ended with a double play.

Only Sammy Fernandez, Doane and Ozanne batted three times. Part of what made Dreswick so effective was her ability to pound the inside corner, especially to SU’s right-handed hitters.

“If it was being called inside, it was going inside,” Hansen said. “Up and in, up and in. Wherever it was called, it was going.”

Even though SU assistant coach Kristyn Sandberg could decipher where the pitches were coming and relay that to hitters, SU still managed just two base runners. Syracuse hitters often knew whether the pitch would be inside or out, but couldn’t drive the ball.

While her fastball wasn’t the fastest SU has seen this year, Dreswick worked fairly quickly and hit her spots to dampen the Syracuse offense. And while she allowed Doane to reach base twice, Dreswick faced the minimum number of batters (21) thanks to a pair of double plays.

“At the end of the day, she just kept pounding the zone, pounding the zone,” Sandberg said. “And we couldn’t make the adjustment to square the ball up.”





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