Sydney O’Hara pitched in 36 of Syracuse’s 49 games last season, including 27 starts, and logged more than 150 innings.

She finished fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference in opponent batting average and ninth in strikeouts, earning a spot on the All-ACC first team at season’s end.

But while O’Hara was the go-to option, the Orange lacked strong additional options.

Head coach Leigh Ross expects junior Jocelyn Cater and freshman AnnaMarie Gatti to help take the load off O’Hara, and senior Lindsay Taylor to pitch significant innings when she returns from injury. The three pitchers have different looks and Ross expects to use them interchangeably depending on opponents’ weaknesses.

“I think you kind of build around pitching,” Ross said. “When you have pitching, the rest of it, you can put the pieces together.”

After her dominant freshman season, O’Hara remains an unquestioned ace.

She’s been working on her change-up, she said, and her goal is to have a more complete arsenal in 2015.

“It’s coming along,” she said of the pitch, “and just keep the same intensity on the mound as last year.”

But as a player who hits every day and plays in the field when she isn’t pitching, O’Hara takes on a lot as the season goes on. Having a deeper rotation this season would help keep her fresh and take pressure off of her arm.

The team boasts a diverse group of pitchers, too. O’Hara is right-handed and throws a rise ball while Gatti, also right-handed, is a drop-ball pitcher. Cater throws similar pitches to O’Hara, Ross said, but is left-handed.

“They’re looking at different angles,” Ross said about other teams when they have to face the Orange. “If their game plan is, well, we have a curveball pitcher so we’re going to crowd the plate or whatever, then you throw a drop-ball pitcher in there. Now it’s different for them.”

In softball, Ross said, any pitcher can throw a lot of innings, but the depth and flexibility of the SU pitching staff will allow the team to try out different combinations.

Though Ross won’t pull a pitcher who’s throwing well, she has the luxury of changing it up as soon as the opponent gets comfortable.

At the back end of the staff is Lindsey Larkin, who Ross called a mop-up pitcher, and sophomore Jordyn White.

“She’s done a fantastic job being that off-speed, coming in, throwing them off, maybe one time through the lineup,” Ross said of Larkin.

Larkin, who is left-handed, is a good ground-ball pitcher who will most likely be used in late-game situations, Ross said.

Larkin said she worked on her change-up during the offseason to compliment her drop ball. She and White have been putting in extra work since Winter Break, throwing to their teammates in the batting cages.

“Throwing to live batters is really helpful,” she said. “Jordyn and I do that a lot and we’ve learned that it’s helpful for the batters and for ourselves.”

The team will need improved pitching from last season if it is to reach its goal, the NCAA tournament. Last year, SU was ninth in the ACC with a 5.00 team ERA.

This year, behind O’Hara and plenty of other options, the Orange is looking at pitching as a strength.

Said Ross: “When you know you’ve got a solid staff in the circle, if you can score a couple runs, you’re going to be in every game.”

Published on February 1, 2015 at 11:05 pm