Syracuse softball flips the script from yesterday and sweeps a doubleheader against Binghamton and Winthrop
By: Nick Zuppe | @nickzuppe
COLUMBIA, S.C. – After losing both games yesterday, Syracuse softball (2-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) walks off Binghamton (1-3, 0-0 America East) 4-3 and mercy-rules Winthrop (0-2, 0-0 0-0 Big South Conference) 11-2 in six innings. With that being said, the Orange were firing all day. And, two-way star Madison Knight was a major reason why.
In Game 1, it was a classic back-and-forth game that could’ve gone either way. In the first three innings alone, there were two lead changes and two ties. But, after three innings of play, the Orange trailed 3-2.
From there, SU starting pitcher Madison Knight found a groove. The senior would go on to hold the Bearcats scoreless for the rest of the game, retiring 13 of the final 15 hitters she faced. Knight finished with six strikeouts and the win in her first complete game of the season, after a team-high of 17 last season.
But she also dominated in the batter’s box. The senior hit fourth in the lineup and had an RBI single to go with three walks. Now, Knight putting up zero after zero allowed the offense to get the job done.
In the bottom of the sixth, Jadyn Burney tied the game all by herself. The grad student walked, stole second, and came around to score on an errant throw from Binghamton’s catcher, Elisa Allen.
Now, with the bases loaded and two outs just one inning later, the grad student lined a single up the middle that gave the Orange their first walk-off win since March 19th of last season against Niagara. But it wasn’t just the ladder stages of the game that Burney dominated.
Burney reached base in all five plate appearances and generated runs all game long. She finished with three hits, two walks, two runs scored, and two runs batted in.
And in game two, it was all ‘Cuse all game long. After the first eight SU hitters were retired, the offense exploded for 11 runs on 10 hits during the rest of the game, both season-highs—a big reason why: due to designated player Vanessa Flores and first baseman Madison Knight.
The seniors combined to go 5-8 at the dish, while totaling seven runs batted in and four runs scored. But with Knight, we saw her power.
She crushed a two-run home run over the left field fence in the fifth inning. That is the senior’s second blast in as many days, after having four the entirety of last season. Plus, Knight doubled in two more in the sixth inning, which brought the mercy rule into effect.
On the pitching side of things, starter Jackie Pengel allowed only two runs over her four and a third innings pitched. Plus, reliever Sydney Jackson finished the game without allowing a run. As a whole, SU has only allowed two runs over the last 10 innings pitched, after Knight’s complete game against Binghamton.
However, the Orange conclude the weekend in the Gamecock Invitational, battling Winthrop tomorrow, with the first pitch set for 10:00 AM.
For live game updates, follow @nickzuppe on X/Twitter and @citrustvsports on X/Twitter and Youtube for coverage!
