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After Syracuse tied the game 3-3 in the seventh inning, Madison Knight trotted out to the pitching circle for the eighth inning. Through seven innings, she had given up just three hits against No. 15 Virginia Tech, the third-ranked scoring offense in the country.

She began the inning with a four-pitch walk to Addy Greene. Cameron Fagan bunted to advance Greene to second, but she beat out the throw at first to put two runners on.

Cori McMillan immediately cashed in, blasting a three-run home run to left field, putting the Hokies up 6-3. Virginia Tech tacked on another run through a fielder’s choice from Teagan Thrunk to extend its lead to 7-3, and put the game completely out of reach for Syracuse.

Lacking offense in the bottom of the eighth frame against Lyndsey Grein, Syracuse (24-21, 6-14 Atlantic Coast Conference) fell to No. 15 Virginia Tech (38-10-1, 18-5 ACC) 7-3 in eight innings. On Friday, the Orange defeated the Hokies for their first ranked win since 2022, but fell just short of pulling off the same feat Saturday.

Knight got the ball in game two of the series and sat down Virginia Tech easily in the top of the first. VT starter Emma Mazzarone matched Knight in the bottom of the frame.

The Hokies didn’t need a hit to strike first. McMillan led off with a walk in the second inning, then stole second and tagged up to get to third on a Bre Peck flyout. Kylie Aldridge proceeded to drive her in after she hit a bouncer to Knight in the circle.

Syracuse got the first hit of the game on a Laila Morales-Alves single, but Makenzie Foster and Rebecca Clyde were struck out in succession. Neither team recorded another hit until the bottom of the fifth, when SU knotted the game up.

Morales-Alves reached on an error by second baseman Fagan, and was moved to second on a wild pitch. Foster struck out, but Clyde came up clutch, driving in Morales-Alves’ pinch runner Gabby Lantier on a hard single up the middle to tie the game at 1-1.

“The first strikeout I think I got to learn from it,” Clyde said about her in-game adjustments at the plate. “I knew I could hit her so having that first at-bat was key for me.”

After a Kelly Breen strikeout, Vanessa Flores singled, putting runners on the corners with two away. Madelyn Lopez had an opportunity to give SU the lead, though Mazzarone’s pitch missed Aldridge’s glove behind home plate, allowing Clyde to score and give SU a 2-1 lead.

Knight now had run support to work with. Through five innings, she hadn’t given up a hit to the third-ranked scoring offense in the nation. But that wouldn’t last forever. Her first hit given up tied the game when Emma Ritter roped a no-doubt home run to left field. The ensuing hitter, Greene, crushed another home run, giving VT the lead right back.

“This is a good home run hitting team,” Clyde said of Virginia Tech. “We kind of expected them to put a few over so it didn’t phase us that much.”

The Orange couldn’t mount anything in the bottom of the sixth, as Taylor Posner grounded out, followed by Knight and Morales-Alves striking out. Knight went back out to the mound to attempt to keep the deficit at one. Despite letting up two baserunners, Knight closed out the inning strong to keep the deficit at one. SU’s bats came to the plate in the bottom of the frame within striking distance of the Hokies.

“Madison (Knight) is an absolute savage,” Clyde said. “I think that she was hitting her spots well today.”

Foster led off by drawing a walk, putting the tying run on base. Virginia Tech went to the bullpen, bringing in Grein to attempt to shut the door on Syracuse. Clyde fought from 0-2 down to draw a walk. Breen then bunted both runners over, setting up Olivia Pess, who drew a walk to load the bases for Lopez.

Lopez half-swung and hit a soft ground ball to the shortstop, but she beat out the throw by a step as Foster crossed home plate to tie the game.

Angel Jasso had the chance now to win the game and defeat the Hokies for the second straight day. But Grein won the matchup, fanning Jasso on a high fastball for the second out. It left Posner to step up in the box with two outs, yet she fell to the same fate as Jasso, swinging through Grein’s 1-2 pitch to send the game into extra innings.

In the eighth inning, the explosive Hokies offense was too much for Syracuse, as it dropped game two of the series, sending it into a rubber match Sunday.

“We’ve proven that we can play with this team twice now,” Clyde said. “We’re going into this third game with some confidence.”

Published on April 27, 2024 at 5:42 pm

Contact Nick: nsjepson@syr.edu