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After striking out three times in game two of Syracuse’s series against No. 15 Virginia Tech, Madison Knight stepped into the batter’s box for her first at-bat of game three.

With Angel Jasso at third, Knight — who was celebrating her birthday — would have loved nothing more than to bring her home, and give SU an early lead. She got her birthday wish and more, as she clobbered the ball high over the center field wall for a two-run shot to push the Orange ahead in the opening frame.

”It was just really needed for me confidence-wise,” Knight said about her home run. “For me, it’s been about staying the course and not swinging at junk.”

In Syracuse’s (25-21, 7-14 Atlantic Coast Conference) final game of its series against No.15 Virginia Tech (38-11-1, 18-6 ACC), the Orange upset the Hokies with a 6-2 rubber-match win to take the series. It marked SU’s first series victory over a ranked opponent since it defeated then-No. 19 Notre Dame in March 2016.

Lindsey Hendrix got off to a solid start for the Orange. Emma Ritter bunted on the first pitch she faced. The ball bounced right to the left of Hendrix, who made the tag at first herself. She then forced Addy Greene and Cameron Fagan into quick fly outs to give SU a chance to grab the early lead on offense.

Jasso laced a one-out single right over second base into the center field gap. The ensuing batter, Taylor Posner, flew out to left, giving Jasso time to use her speed to get to second. VT pitcher Cassie Grizzard lost control of her pitch, putting Jasso on third. Knight stepped up to the plate and went yard for a pair of RBIs, putting SU in front 2-0.

In the second, Bre Peck singled to third for the Hokies first hit of the day, barely beating Rebecca Clyde’s throw. Michelle Chatfield took a walk, but the Orange recovered with a double play to escape the inning unscathed.

Makenzie Foster led off at the plate for SU in the bottom of the inning and drew a four-pitch walk. The at bat resulted in a pitching change from VT, as the Hokies brought in Saturday’s closer Lyndsey Grein. But the Orange continued to make smart decisions in the batter’s box.

Olivia Pess kicked a ball right down the middle of the diamond, and Foster was tagged out at second, but Pess reached first base on the fielder’s choice. Kelly Breen took a walk, and on a wild pitch SU’s two baserunners shifted over to second and third. Clyde also walked to fill the bases.

With the bases loaded and just one away, the Orange were in the same scenario they had been when they were down 3-2 in game two. But again, they failed to convert on the chance.

Preceded by a Teagan Thrunk walk, Annika Rohs slammed the ball right between second and third base, where Breen was waiting for it. She snagged it with ease for a line out, which was followed by a fly out to deep center by Ritter. Greene popped up for the third out as the Hokies remained scoreless through three. Grein responded for Virginia Tech by setting down SU 1-2-3.

Yet in the fourth, the pitchers on both sides began to clean things up.

Fagan weakly grounded to first base, then Hendrix forced Cori McMillan into a fly out. Peck popped up for another out to keep the shutout on for the Orange. Grein forced Foster into a quick ground out. Pess was struck out swinging on four pitches, then Clyde lined out.

”Honestly, no,” Hendrix said when asked if she made any changes in her game between game one and game three in the series. “I just tried to stay with what I know best, which is curve (curveball) and change (changeup).”

After Hendrix once again silenced the VT batting order, SU began to get back to its offensive game in the fifth.

Madelyn Lopez roped a leadoff double to the left center gap. Jasso was then struck out looking, taking a moment to turn around and share her disagreement with the umpire. Posner also struck out, but on the next at bat, Knight dished one directly to third. Peck picked up the ball and threw it to first for what would’ve normally been a routine out.

But Chatfield couldn’t corral the ball as it bounced off of her glove and behind her. On the error, Lopez sprinted home to put the Orange up by three. After a Laila Morales-Alves base hit, Knight trotted easily to third. With base runners at the corners, Vanessa Flores launched a single into center field to bring Knight home and grow the lead to 4-0. Angie Ramos stepped up to the plate as a pinch hitter, but Grein stopped the bleeding with a strikeout. But just as they had done all series, the Hokies took back the momentum.

With Greene at second, Fagan got the Hokies on the board with a base hit to center field that was aided by a rare fielding error by Jasso. Greene easily made her way home on the play to make it a 4-1 ballgame. A delay due to inclement weather put the game on hold for almost an hour, but the Hokies picked up right where they left off.

McMillan thrashed a single right up the middle that scored Fagan to draw VT closer, now down only 4-2. But Hendrix remained collected on the bump and shut the door by forcing Peck into a fly out. The Orange added onto their lead with consecutive RBIs to bring the lead to 6-2, an advantage SU would hold through the seventh inning to secure the victory in the game and series against VT.

”It means everything,” Knight said about the series win. “I’m so proud of this team and I think we did a really good job of dropping the last game and realizing that we fought the last two games, and we were gonna fight again (today).”

Published on April 28, 2024 at 4:58 pm

Contact Matthew: mgray06@syr.edu