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Laila Alves was at home plate with bases loaded in the sixth. Facing a full-count, Alves laced a single along the left-field line, scoring Angel Jasso and Tessa Galipeau.

It was Alves’ team-high third hit of the game, finishing the day 3-for-4. She gave Syracuse its largest lead of the game, 5-2, an advantage that UVA couldn’t overcome.

Syracuse traveled down to South Bend, Indiana, to face Virginia in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. Alves’ timely RBIs and Madison Knight’s two-way dominance led the Orange (24-25-1, 7-15-1 ACC) to an 8-2 victory over the Cavaliers (30-22, 8-16 ACC), advancing to play the No. 1 seed Florida State in the Tournament quarterfinals.

Virginia starting pitcher Savanah Henley sat down the Orange’s first three hitters in order, only needing nine pitches to do it.

The Cavaliers kept the high-quality play in the bottom half of the inning. Kelly Ayer and Jade Hylton hit back-to-back singles off Knight. Katie Goldberg laid down a sacrifice bunt, allowing the runners to advance to second and third base. Tori Gilbert then skied a sacrifice fly into deep left field, scoring Ayer to give UVA a 1-0 lead.

In the second frame, SU loaded the bases, but failed to capitalize. With one out, Taylor Posner knocked a single into left field. Rebecca Clyde stepped up to the plate, connecting with a 1-1 pitch. The ball softly sailed into shallow left field as Gabby Lantier tagged up from third base, anticipating the ball would be caught.

The ball dropped just in front of UVA left fielder Ayer. She scooped it and fired toward home, getting Lantier out with plenty of room to spare. SU still had the bases juiced, but Yamila Evans struck out swinging to end the frame.

The third inning was similar to the first. The top of the Orange’s order went down in 1-2-3 fashion with Jasso grounding out to a diving Gabby Baylog at first base to end the inning.

As Syracuse faltered, Virginia plated runs. Lauren VanAssche’s leadoff bunt single, followed by a Hylton single into right field put runners on the corners in the bottom of the third. Goldberg hit a grounder at Galipeau on first base, and instead of throwing home to get VanAssche out, she opted to take the force at first. She was too late with the toss and Alves made it home, extending the Cavaliers lead to 2-0.

The Orange got on the board in the fourth inning. Alves laced a one-out single into right. On the next pitch, Knight launched her fourth long ball of the season into left field. Her team-leading 26th and 27th RBI tied the game.

Virginia continued to struggle in the fourth. Third basemen Sarah Coon made two errors in a row, allowing Syracuse to attempt a two-out rally. Pinch-hitter Jude Padilla subbed in for Galipeau, drawing a six-pitch walk to load the bases.

Madelyn Lopez then hit a hard grounder right up the middle. Hylton dove to her right at second base, fully extending her glove, and came up with the ball. She crawled a few feet over to second, tapping her glove on the base just before Padilla could get there. Hylton’s effort bailed Virginia out from facing a deficit in the fourth.

Knight avoided giving the lead back to the Cavaliers in the bottom half. Despite hitting Abby Weaver with a pitch to begin the frame, Knight forced Coon and Baylog to ground out. Leah Boggs then flew out to Jasso in center field. Through four innings, SU and UVA were locked at two apiece.

A leadoff single from Jasso started the fifth and Alves followed up with a single through the left side. Runners were pitted on the corners for Knight. Continuing her strong performance, Knight squeaked a ground ball past Hylton, scoring Jasso. The Orange took a 3-2 lead, their first of the day. Clyde took a walk to load up the bases but Ryan Starr then bounced one to the pitching circle ending the inning.

UVA gained some momentum to lead off its half of the fifth with VanAssche legging out a triple down the right-field line. Next, Knight issued a walk to Ayer, who stole second base. Knight struck out Hylton swinging on a low pitch, but loaded the bases after walking Goldberg.

With her back against the wall, Knight delivered. She forced Gilbert to ground out right back to the circle, where Knight got the force at home and Alves turned two, getting Gilbert out at first to end the inning. Knight escaped the jam, preserving Syracuse’s lead.

After Alves’ clutch single in the sixth, the Orange picked up more insurance. Clyde drew a walk with the bases loaded to bring another run across, increasing their lead to 6-2. In the seventh, Lopez hustled out a bunt single that trickled to the left side. Jasso hit a bloop single just over Goldberg’s head at shortstop, putting runners on first and second. SU tacked on two more runs as UVA made two consecutive errors that led to Lopez and Jasso crossing home. The Orange finished with an 8-2 lead as the Cavaliers recorded five errors on the game.

Virginia mustered three baserunners in the final two innings while Knight tallied a complete-game, securing Syracuse a spot in the quarterfinals.

Published on May 10, 2023 at 4:30 pm

Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews