DePaul University Athletics
DePaul Falls to Syracuse in BIG EAST Championship Semifinals
5/14/2010 12:00:00 AM | SOFTBALL
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It was just six days ago when DePaul's Bree Brown and Syracuse's Jenna Caira hooked up in a classic pitcher's duel in New York.
The sequel promised to be equally compelling--- only the stakes were a little bit higher.
This time, the winner would advance to the BIG EAST Championship title game.
What happened was a little bizarre. Eight illegal-pitch calls---four on each pitcher---forced early exits from both as DePaul lost to Syracuse 3-2, snapping its nine-game winning streak
Becca Heteniak hit another "Becca Bomb" in the third inning, a solo shot that sailed high over the left-field fence and almost landed on Brandeis Street. That was her seventh home run of the season and gave DePaul a 2-1 lead.
Syracuse tied the game in the bottom of the sixth when Lisaira Daniels led off with a single and Hallie Gibbs followed with an RBI double.
Lacey Kohn's single to left field drove in pinch-runner Emily Thompson.
Hetgeniak, who came on in relief of Brown, was the losing pitcher---ending her streak of 12 wins in a row.
"We just didn't match their ingtensity," said DePaul coach Eugene Lenti. "Syracuse (31-24) had a lot more to play for than we did.
"It was desperation for them. The only way they get a bid to the NCAA tournament is to win the BIG EAST title.
"But we didn't play well in our win over Rutgers on Thursday and didn't play well today. We need to work on a lot of things to get ready for the NCAA tournament. We'll practice hard on Saturday and Sunday, kind of a mini-boot camp, to get ourselves ready."
The brackets for the NCAA tournament will be announced at 9 p.m. on Sunday and televised on ESPNU. DePaul is now 38-16.
Brown, a freshman, and Caira, a sophomore, are the top two young pitching talents in the BIG EAST. Brown won the Rookie of the Year award and was All-BIG EAST Second Team while Caira was also All-BIG EAST Second Team.
They have two more seasons of head-to-head battles to look forward to whenever these two conference powers collide.
Their contrast is intriguing. Brown's money pitch is a deadly, high-velocity riseball while Caira thrives on a killer changeup.
Caira never got a chance to use the changeup as she was called for four illegal pitches in the top of the first inning that resulted in Alex Morocco scoring and Lynsey Ciezki going to second base.
The Blue Demons loaded the bases with two out, but Tara Voss fouled out to Orange third baseman Hallie Gibbs.
In the bottom of the second, first-base umpire John Kurnat called three illegal pitches on Brown. He had called the four on Caira in the first inning.
Hallie Gibbs was on second with one out because of the illegal-pitch calls when Caira hit a shot into left-center. Morocco came sprinting over and made a diving catch to save a run for DePaul.
In the bottom of the third, after Brown was called for her fourth illegal pitch, DePaul coach Eugene Lenti replaced his starting pitcher with Heteniak, who had started at first base. Annie Demas came in at first base.
Veronica Grant hit a one-out double to left-center that scored Kelly Saco. A wild pitch on strike three sent Grant to third and Stephanie Watts to first. Watts then stole second base.
Heteniak came back to strike out Lisaira Daniels and induce a groundout from clean-up batter Gibbs.
The Blue Demons had runners on second and third with two out in the sixth, but Morocco fouled out.
