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With runners on first and second base and two outs, Sydney Hartgrove stepped up to the plate. Hartgrove worked the count full, and on the eighth pitch of the at bat, Madison Knight misfired, hitting Hartgrove’s leg. It brought up Virginia’s leadoff hitter, Jade Hylton, to bat with the bases loaded.

Knight got ahead in the count early, and on her 1-2 delivery, she sawed Hylton off. Hylton weakly hit a pop-up back to Knight in the circle, retiring the side.

After escaping Virginia’s threat unscathed in the top of the second inning, Knight was due up second for the Orange in the bottom half of the inning. Kelly Breen grounded out leading off the inning, bringing Knight to the plate. On Savanah Henley’s first delivery, Knight sent a moonshot to left-center field, giving SU a 1-0 lead.

“Helping yourself out is one of the biggest things when you’re hitting and pitching,” Knight said.

Backed by Knight’s two-way aptitude, Syracuse (22-22-1, 6-12-1 Atlantic Coast) swept Virginia (29-20, 8-15 Atlantic Coast) in both games of a doubleheader, beating the Cavaliers 8-3 in the first game and 4-0 in the second game. In three innings pitched in relief in the first game, Knight gave up no runs and only allowed one batter to reach base. In the second game, Knight went 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs at the plate while pitching a complete-game shutout.

Following Lindsey Hendrix’s four innings pitched in game one, Knight entered the game in the fifth inning with the Orange winning 6-3. Because of the lead, Knight had the proper breathing room to go to the circle less tense than usual, which helped her keep the Cavaliers scoreless for the rest of the game.

“When it’s a 0-0 game and it’s the top of the seventh inning you’re like, ‘I can’t mess up, I can’t mess up,’” Knight said. “But when it’s a 6-(3) lead you’re like, ‘OK, I have room to breathe. I can work through my pitches, just get ahead pitch by pitch.’”

In the second game, Knight pitched with a lead for five innings, allowing herself to stay composed. Between pitches, Knight would take deep breaths, she said, calming herself down to focus on each batter individually — no matter the situation she was in.

Kelly Ayer hit an opposite-field double leading off the fourth inning. However, Knight was unphased. Gabby Baylog proceeded to bunt Ayer over to third base, bringing Lauren VanAssche up with one out.

Despite having two opportunities to drive in Ayer from third base, the Cavaliers failed to tie the game.

Ahead in the count 1-2, Knight forced VanAssche to bloop a fly ball to right field — though not deep enough for Ayer to tag up from third base – for the second out of the inning.

The next batter, Hartgrove, swung at the first pitch, pounding it into the ground. Rebecca Clyde fielded the grounder and fired to first getting Knight out of the inning with no damage.

After Knight pitched her way out of the Cavaliers’ scoring threat in the top of the fourth inning, Syracuse’s offense gave her an insurance run in the bottom half of the inning – something the team feels incentivized to do when the freshman is dominating on the bump.

“When Madison is dominating on the mound, it gives us a lot of confidence to back her up,” Angel Jasso said. “When she’s always dominating then it’s like ‘alright, we got your back, so we’re going to put up some runs for you.’”

In the bottom of the fourth inning, Jasso hit a leadoff single and then stole second base. After battling against Jenny Bressler, the next batter, Breen, ripped a double down the left field line giving SU a 2-0 lead.

The Orange were unable to provide Knight additional insurance runs that inning, but it didn’t matter. Over her final three innings pitched, Knight only surrendered one walk without giving up a hit. Knight even flashed the leather, spearing a line drive hit by Ayer ending the sixth inning.

Following her spectacular catch, Knight stepped into the batter’s box in the bottom of the sixth inning with Jasso on third base and two outs. Despite falling behind in the count, Knight ripped a two-strike single into left field, giving SU a 3-0 lead. During the next at bat, Knight scored from first base on Laila Alves’ double, scoring the Orange’s fourth run of the game.

“This kid’s a special player,” head coach Shannon Doepking told CitrusTV after the game.

Published on April 28, 2023 at 9:06 pm

Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon