Nearly a year ago, Syracuse stood at the height of program history, setting records en route to the NCAA regionals, where it eventually fell to Arizona State.

A little more than midway through this season, and about a month from the Big East tournament, SU is far from those heights. This season, it’s a young team struggling to find footing in Big East play after falling to powerhouse DePaul by at least nine runs in each of last weekend’s three games.

Heading into Wednesday’s 3:30 p.m. doubleheader against Cornell (14-16, 4-4 Ivy) at Skytop Softball Stadium, Syracuse remains hopeful. Despite the disappointing start to conference play, which included an 11-0 blowout loss on Saturday, the Orange (13-20, 1-5 Big East) insists team morale remains high.

“As weird as it sounds, I think we have better team morale this year than in the past,” Syracuse captain Veronica Grant said. “We all know the situation we’re in, the understanding of it and where we want to be and where we want to go is all the same. It’s just struggling to get there.”

Grant likened this team to the one from her freshman season, when it would exit some weekends certain of its identity and others far less so. That team closed the 2010 season 32-26. Transitioning practice out of Manley Field House to the outdoor field has provided an additional lift to the team’s spirits, Grant said.

For players who have witnessed the pinnacle of Syracuse softball, like Grant and senior shortstop Morgan Nandin, who played roles in the Orange’s deep trip into tournament play, the losses this season can be frustrating.

“It’s never fun to lose,” Nandin said. “Coming off a record-setting season last year and going through the slump right now, it’s just a completely different team. We’ll get past it.”

Tuesday’s outdoor practice, in which Nandin fielded at least 150 ground balls, was light, but focused. Gauging the team’s spirit and atmosphere of the practice, she’s confident the team can reverse course and make waves late in the season.

“I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people when it comes to Big East play,” Nandin said. “I think we’ll do something really special.”

SU head coach Leigh Ross can’t attribute the mid-season slump to one factor, but said Syracuse faced difficult competition in its first two conference opponents, Louisville and DePaul.

The team’s also suffered from injuries to pitcher Lindsay Taylor, who logged long innings on the mound earlier this season, and offensive powerhouse Julie Wambold, who bruised her wrist from a wayward pitch Saturday.

“You’re going to have the ups and downs in the season. Once you understand that, it’s your job is to come here every day and work hard and get through it,” Ross said. “You’re going to get through the ups and downs.”

For Grant, the key heading into Wednesday’s game and the final stretch of conference play lies in the team’s ability to put the losses behind them and forge on.

“Try and forget what just happened to the effect of moving forward,” Grant said. “Don’t completely forget about it, remember how it feels, but just keep going.”

Published on April 10, 2013 at 1:10 am

Contact Debbie: dbtruong@syr.edu | @debbietruong