Syracuse approaches bullpen usage with different philosphy

The Daily Orange – The Independent Student Newspaper of Syracuse, New York

Sydney O’Hara is no longer the starting pitcher she once was. After starting nearly 70 percent of her 54 appearances as a freshman and sophomore, she has only thrown the first pitch for Syracuse twice in the past two seasons. Yet O’Hara recently got her name in the Syracuse softball history books.
On Feb. 17 against St. John’s, she became SU’s all-time leader in saves, with nine.


“I have one job when I get into the game,” O’Hara said. “Whether we are up, or we are tied: Stop the bleeding. Make sure they don’t score.”
Syracuse (12-6) makes use of its crowded rotation by allowing pitchers to split games. This has increased save numbers and given an added importance to the role of a closer. Using relievers is all part of SU head coach Mike Bosch’s different philosophy.
“Softball has been predominately in the past where pitchers threw full games. They could throw seven innings, eight, nine, 10, 11,” Bosch said. “We’ve kind of taken a little bit of a baseball approach.”
O’Hara is first in the Atlantic Coast Conference in saves (4), games finished (12) and games in relief (12). With these numbers, she’s separated herself as the top relief pitcher on the Orange and someone that Bosch trusts to use at the end of games. She also posts a .182 opposing team batting average and a 1.12 earned run average. Those marks are good for second and third in the ACC, respectively.
But a relief role is not something that SU is limiting to one player. The team has expectations that all of the pitchers on the staff will be able to throw in relief at one point of the season.
“It’s just a matter of identifying who we are playing and what their strengths are,” Bosch said.
All five pitchers who have made appearances for the ...

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