Softball

Rachel Burkhardt looks to build off 3-RBI performance when Syracuse faces Fordham

Rachel Burkhardt was squandering her chance.

She began her at-bat by fouling off the first pitch, a riser, and watching the second, a drop ball. She was down in the count 0-2.

In her first five at-bats since taking over in left field for Annie Toczynski, she had just one hit.

“I was thinking, ‘What do I have to do to get a base hit to get a run in?’” Burkhardt said. “She just pitched me inside. It was nice and simple, nothing complicated.”

The next pitch answered her question.



She didn’t see the ball clear the fence until sneaking a look out at left field as she rounded second base.

Burkhardt smacked her first career home run while driving in her first three RBIs as well.

The blast gave Syracuse its only lead of the weekend in its three-game series with Louisville. Burkhardt had pinch hit in game one — a strikeout — then started in left field for the second and third games, hitting the dinger during the latter.

Her success at the plate comes from changes in the batting cage, a simplified approach and an opportunity. Burkhardt looks to continue her hot hitting Wednesday as the Orange (12-17, 0-6 Atlantic Coast) plays Fordham (15-13, 3-2 Atlantic 10) in Bronx, New York at 3 p.m.

“We decided that maybe it’s time Rachel get some opportunities,” SU head coach Leigh Ross said. “Maybe Annie went a little cold. Not just didn’t get hits, but that she wasn’t seeing the ball as well and not hitting it as hard.

“We thought, let’s give this kid a shot and she certainly made the most of it.”

Early on in the season, Ross thought Burkhardt put too much emphasis on the number of at bats and too much pressure on each at bat. She saw Burkhardt beginning to swing harder and harder, but Ross just wanted Burkhardt to relax. Just put the ball in play and hit it hard somewhere.

Burkhardt struggled from the outset of the season because she wanted to crush the ball.

Over the last week, assistant coach Matt Nandin helped her refocus.

“You have to keep up with this game,” Burkhardt said. “It’s a very complicated game … I wanted to hit the ball hard and hit the gaps and hit the liners and get everybody in … Like constantly, but (coaches) said, just see and hit the ball. Just see and hit the ball. Just be you and relax.

“I was like, ‘OK.’”

And now Burkhardt is locked in.

The coaches look for certain things in a hitter, but it’s not just about getting on base. It’s about squaring the ball up, seeing the pitcher well, having good at bats and hitting the ball hard somewhere.

“The key for Rachel is not to make it more than it is,” Ross said. “We’ll probably ride her because hitting’s so streaky. If your kid is hot, you ride them.”

Her teammates try to push her during drills so the whole team improves, fellow freshman Maddi Doane said.

Burkhardt will get her chance in left field on Wednesday. She has two hits in her last six at-bats after starting out the year hitting 2-of-27 (.074). She knows this is her chance, but she won’t try to rush through her at bats, or swing harder than she needs to.

“My approach will the same as in the cage, just seeing where the pitch is pitched and doing what I have to do,” she said. “Keep it simple: Hit the ball, hit it hard.”

Staff writer Jack Rose, jlrose@syr.edu, contributed to reporting this story.





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