Madison Knight delivers Syracuse to ACC Tournament win over Virginia

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Leading off the bottom of the fifth inning, Lauren VanAssche roped a triple down the first base line. Facing Kelly Ayer next, Madison Knight continuously tried to hit the corners of home plate. After a series of misfires, Knight walked Ayer in only five pitches.

The walk brought Jade Hylton to the plate, Virginia’s leader in home runs and RBIs. In the middle of Hylton’s at-bat, Ayer stole second base, giving Hylton the perfect opportunity to tie the game or take the lead for the Cavaliers, who were trailing 3-2. However, after Knight worked the count to 2-2, she struck out Hylton for the first out of the inning.

With first base open, Knight decided to work around Katie Goldberg, walking her in a non-competitive at-bat to set up a potential double play to get out of the inning. On Knight’s first pitch to Tori Gilbert, she got exactly what she was looking for.

Knight jammed Gilbert, forcing Gilbert to hit a grounder right back to her in the circle. Knight immediately fired the ball to catcher Laila Alves to get a force-out at the plate. Alves then threw to first base, making the double play. The Orange escaped the inning with their lead intact.

Led by Knight’s two-way performance, Syracuse (24-25-1, 7-15-1 Atlantic Coast) defeated Virginia (30-22, 8-16 ACC) 8-2 in the first round of the ACC Tournament. Backed by Knight’s three RBIs at the plate and seven innings pitched giving up two runs, the Orange move on to face No. 1 Florida State in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals tomorrow at 11 a.m.

After the Orange were retired in order in the top of the first inning, Ayer kick-started Virginia’s offense with an infield single, followed by a Hylton single into left field. Virginia proceeded to play small ball, with a sacrifice bunt from Goldberg advancing both runners. Then, a sacrifice fly from Gilbert scored Ayer from third base for the first run of the game.

Knight settled down, though, retiring Abby Weaver to get out of the inning. Knight proceeded to retire the Cavaliers 1-2-3 in the second inning. To start the third inning, the Cavaliers hit another leadoff infield single as VanAssche legged her way on base after laying down a bunt to third base.

Then, Knight retired Ayer, but a one-out single from Hylton put runners on the corners. On Knight’s first pitch to Goldberg, she forced her to hit a ground ball right to the first baseman, Tessa Galipeau. It seemed like Galipeau could’ve had a play at the plate, but she chose to just get the force-out at first base, allowing Ayer to score. Virginia took a 2-0 lead.

“I think (Knight) is doing well,” head coach Shannon Doepking said on the ACC Network broadcast in the fourth inning. “She’s given us some opportunities to make plays, but unfortunately I think defensively we’re not making the plays we need to make right now. But I like what she’s doing…We got to be better defensively behind her.”

Despite the lack of defensive assistance, Knight picked her teammates up in the top of the fourth inning. With Alves on first base after she hit a one-out single, Knight stepped into the batter’s box for her second at-bat of the day.

On the first pitch she saw from UVA’s Savanah Henley, Knight connected, scorching a home run to left field, tying the game 2-2.

Although the Orange were unable to take the lead, Knight held the Cavaliers scoreless in the bottom half of the inning, working her way out of a jam that set SU’s offense up to take the lead in the fifth.

Following a leadoff single from Angel Jasso and a one-out single from Alves in the fifth frame, Knight stepped up to the plate with an RBI opportunity.

After getting ahead in the count 3-1, Knight smoked a ground ball to the second baseman, Hylton. With the ball too hot to handle, Jasso scored and Knight reached first base safely. The Orange were unable to extend their lead, but Knight silenced Virginia in the bottom half of the inning.

Following Knight’s scoreless, yet eventful fifth inning, her teammates took full advantage, breaking the game open by scoring three runs in the sixth inning and two more in the seventh.

Backed by the insurance runs her team provided, Knight held Virginia scoreless en route to pitching the complete game.

“Just knowing how much my coaches trust me, even my fellow pitchers, they were behind me the whole entire game,” Knight told ACC Network postgame. “It was everything just to have my whole team behind me.”