Syracuse Falls Just Short to Clemson in Low-Scoring Affair

By Gabe Perrin | @gabe_perrin

CLEMSON, SC – Under the sunny skies at McWhorter Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina, Syracuse freshman Madison Knight took the circle against a fourth-ranked Clemson team that sat at 19-1 on the season. 

Knight knew that the task at hand would be difficult. Going into today’s game, the Tigers ranked seventh in the entire country in team batting average. However, the Baltimore native started out with the hot hand, retiring nine of the first 10 batters to start out the game. She was backed up well by some impressive plays from her outfield, including centerfielder Angel Jasso climbing the wall to rob what would have been a home run for Clemson’s McKenzie Clark. 

But despite the best efforts of the Syracuse in the field, its offensive efforts simply couldn’t match up. While the Orange did get on in the 1st inning via a Kelly Breen single, Clemson pitcher Brooke McCubbin held them to one hit They failed to put another runner on base until the 5th, where two runners were left stranded after a base hit from Yamila Evans.

For Clemson, its struggles at the plate continued until the 4th inning, where Valerie Cagle notched the team’s first hit of the game. But it wasn’t until late in the 5th that the Tigers got on the board as Reedy Davenport knocked in the only run of the game.

However, ‘Cuse was not done yet. As Cagle was brought into pitch in the 6th inning, the Orange attempted to take advantage of the new pitcher and get a few runners on base. While they failed to do so in the 6th, Evans slapped another base hit in the 7th, giving the team a small sliver of hope for an upset. 

But with Evans on 1st and Knight up to bat, Knight grounded a ball over to third base. The forceout on Evans was made at second, but Knight was called safe at first due to first baseman Kyah Keller’s heel coming off the bag. After the play concluded, umpires reviewed the sequence and reversed the call at first, solidifying a 1-0 shutout win for Clemson over Syracuse.

Later this week, 6-9 Syracuse heads to Riverside, California for the Lance Up Invite. The Orange take on Harvard on Friday at 3:00 PM. Follow along with @adam_gotkin on Twitter for updates on SU Softball throughout the season.