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Madison Knight took a step back and took a deep breath, readying herself for the biggest pitch of the afternoon. With the count even at two in the top of the fifth with two outs, Syracuse led 8-0 and Knight had yet to allow a hit.

She steadied herself before winding up and throwing a fastball over the middle, which NC State’s MaKayla Marbury popped off the end of her bat. The ball floated out to right field. Then, Madelyn Lopez took a couple steps in to secure the high-fly catch for the 11th No-Hitter in Syracuse Softball history and the first since 2018.

Knight was praying that Lopez would catch it. The two live together. Knight said she had “all the faith in the world that she would catch the ball.”

“It’s absolutely insane,” Knight said. “I couldn’t have done it without the team behind me. The support from everybody is amazing and it’s just awesome that it happened.”

Knight’s lights-out performance in the circle drove Syracuse past NC State, defeating the Wolfpack 8-0 via the run rule for its first series victory in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Knight became the fourth freshman to record a no-hitter, joining Tara DiMaggio, Jenna Caira, and current assistant coach Sydney O’Hara. Knight recorded a career-high seven strikeouts, only walking three batters while showing off her two-way ability by going 2-2 at the plate. It was the first SU no-hitter since Alexa Romero’s in an 8-0 win against Sacramento State.

On Thursday, Knight had a solid outing against the Wolfpack, going six innings, letting up three hits and one earned run in a 4-2 victory. She got in a rhythm early on Saturday and said she had gotten a feel for the opposing batters last time out.

Knight dominated batters all game long, painting the corners constantly. The pitcher wasted no time asserting her dominance in the first inning, going one-two-three. After two flyouts, Knight faced a full count against Amanda Hasler, squeezing a ball on the inside corner, getting Hasler to go down looking.

The Syracuse bats came alive to give Knight support early on. It was the first time since Feb. 19 the Orange scored eight or more runs for the first time, defeating Iowa 11-4. The Orange attacked starting pitcher Madison Inscoe, loading the bases in the first inning. Jude Padilla came up big with a two RBI double, giving Syracuse the lead. That was all Knight needed from that point forward, but the Orange tacked on more.

The following inning, Syracuse put up four runs after a couple of two run blasts from Lopez and Kelly Breen. Rebecca Clyde drew a walk to start the inning before Lopez hit a first-pitch fastball high in the air to right field for her second home run of the season. Tessa Galipeau was hit by a pitch before Breen knocked another first pitch fastball off the scoreboard in left field, giving the Orange a 6-0 lead.

“It puts something in you that you just want to do better and get her [Knight] runs because she’s doing so well,” Lopez said. “You don’t want her to go out there and think that she just has to continue to have the pressure because we don’t have her back.”

Knight said the runs mean “everything” to her as a pitcher. She also said the two runs in the first inning gave her “wiggle room” to mess up, but she never did, pitching lights out throughout the contest.

Knight’s shutout was the second of the season for Syracuse. It was the first time since March 11 when Lindsey Hendrix and Kaia Oliver combined to allow just three hits in a 1-0 win over Harvard.

The most trouble Knight ran into during the ball game was in the third inning after she hit Gracie Roberts to lead off the inning. Marbury gave Knight a scare when she drove a ball to deep right field. Lopez backed up and had enough room to make the catch at the warning track, keeping the no-hitter alive. Leadoff hitter Rebecca Murray hit a weak pop-up to Galipeau at first base before a strikeout from Hannah Goodwin ended the inning.

At the plate, Knight got on base three times, drawing a walk on the first inning to load the bases. In the second, Knight flew one to left field which Katlyn Pavlick lost in the sun, allowing her to advance to second. In the fourth inning, she led off with a rip into left field for a single. Knight had been struggling at the plate, going the previous four games without a hit. On Saturday, Knight said she thought less about hitting and the mechanical side, clearing her head.

The freshman also explained that her pitching benefits from her plate appearances.

“I see the zone from a pitching point of view then I can bring it in and say, Hey, he’s not calling this. He’s not calling that but he is calling this.

In the fourth inning, Knight went one-two-three for the second time in the game. Hasler popped up to shortstop, followed by back-to-back strikeouts from Knight. Facing a full count against Inscoe, Knight released a rise ball, just catching the top of the zone to get her down looking.

The ensuing inning, Knight finished off the no-hitter. She said after the game she threw a no-hitter in high school last year and it was good to get her first collegiate one.

“Being able to come out and being home it’s awesome… to be able to do it here in front of the home crowd everything so means a lot.” Knight said

Published on April 8, 2023 at 8:49 pm

Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22