Madison Knight leads the Orange to a 10-0 victory in game one of the Best of the Bayou Classic

Friday, Feb 23, 2024 at 7:01 pm by Sports Editor

Nathaniel Cunningham | @N_cunning_0

In The Dark Knight Rises, Batman returns after eight years away to save the city he calls home. Well, Madison Knight may not have been away for eight years but she returned to the form fans saw just a year ago. In four innings of action, the sophomore allowed just one hit, struck out six, and gave up just one walk in Syracuse Softball’s (7-3) 10-0 victory over Evansville (0-9).

While the offense couldn’t convert in the top of the first, Knight went 1-2-3 with one strikeout. Then in the second things got scary. After a double with one runner out, aKnight reached into her bag of tricks striking out two more to get out of a tough situation. 

In the top of the third, the Orange’s offense came alive. Mackenzie Foster and Angel Jasso did what they have done all year with back-to-back singles. Taylor Posner decided it was time to open the scoring with a three-run home run to center field that gave SU a three-run advantage. 

With runs on the board for Knight, she kept dealing. In the bottom half of the third. Another 1-2-3 inning occurred with another two strikeouts and SU’s offense was back at the plate. 2 doubles and two singles saw Syracuse add another four runs and more insurance for their sophomore pitcher.

In the bottom half, Knight added her third 1-2-3 inning with another strikeout. In the Top of the 5th, SU didn’t play around. Rebecaa Clyde hit her 2nd double of the game followed by a walk and two more singles and Syracuse had 10 runs in just 5 innings. 

In the bottom of the 5th, Knight didn’t take the circle to protect her arm for another 4 games this weekend. Instead, Jessie Dipasquale came in for the 5th. Going 1-2-3 herself with 3 strikeouts. 

The win marks the Orange’s 4th shutout this year. Syracuse looks to keep the momentum tonight as it takes on hosting University of Louisiana at Monroe (9-4). That game is at 7:30. 

nbcunnin@syr.edu | @n_cunning_0